A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

passing time

My bff Shannon and I got together last night to paint. We have been doing it off and on since we moved to Colorado, never with the expectation of creating a masterpiece but just hanging out, talking nonstop and having fun smearing some paint around. It's all about the process of creating and, even more than that, having fun with art. We don't always finish a painting in one night, but we're always surprised and thrilled with what we manage to come up with.

Our creative backgrounds are very different and have allowed each of us to bring something unique to the table. But what truly makes our collaborations special is the way we work together, giving each other complete freedom to experiment and play, to try something new or do the same damn thing because we  just can't stop ourselves from adding a heart or flower in there somewhere. I've learned that a successful collaboration has to have that freedom, but it also needs trust. We completely trust that the other will do something great and if it isn't great yet, we work together adding to and even painting right over each other's work until we have something we both love. It makes all the difference to create with someone you know is going to squeal and be crazy about whatever it is you will do next.

Each painting inevitably becomes my new favorite and every one really is a little miracle in itself. You can read about some of our other paintings here, here and here.

it's my new favorite thing

We had our first snow day this week. Something I've never seen: miles of red, violet, orange and yellow foliage heavy with cottony white snow. Absolutely glorious!

And here are a few other things that are grabbing my attention recently:

 

-The last of the summer garden. So sad to say good-bye!

 

- Tuscan Kale Salad- Tastes kind of like a mock Caesar to me, but way healthier. And just as good the next day since the kale doesn't get soggy and slimy like lettuce. Seriously yummy.

 

-Crayon-written love notes.

 

-Thinking about what my native language sounds like to non-Americans. 

experimental

When it comes to actually painting in my journals, I typically like to have the right kind of paper. Not necessarily high quality artist paper but something thicker, usually inexpensive watercolor paper. Since I began making these more scrappy type of journals with lots of recycled paper, I've noticed that I've been relying more on pen and ink than paint for coloring my pages and that's fine--I love it--but I miss my paint! So when I started thinking about this latest journal, I knew wanted to be able to incorporate more paint on the pages and that meant either adding lots of watercolor paper (expensive) or getting over my apprehension of painting on thinner papers and work with what I have. I decided on both.

Here, I've painted right on top of a Starbucks pamphlet. In the first picture I painted on some old ledger paper. Below are are 2 different watercolor papers, one cheap, one more expensive. And you know what? I love them all. I have noticed that some of the thinner papers do buckle a bit under the moisture of the paint but actually not as much as I thought they would. So my experiment is a success. I have now successfully overcome my worry of having to have the "right" paper in order to paint freely and have once again been reminded that using what you have is just as good as holding out for the Best and may even open up opportunities to be creative that you hadn't even thought of before!

What assumptions, expectations or other beliefs are holding you back from doing your best work?

rabbit heart

You will find lots of song lyrics in my journals, mainly because I can barely create without my music. It is my constant companion, inspiration and mood setter. Sometimes I write out lyrics that especially mean something to me and other times they are simply a reflection of that day's soundtrack and nothing more. For me, it is as important that my journals are a snapshot of my days as it is that they communicate any deeper message. My journals are literally the story of my life. For better or worse. The good and the bad. You might think that I would censor myself in these pages knowing that I will be sharing them online for the whole world to see (potentially, anyway), but actually it's just the opposite. I create and record, reflect and spill out because I must but I share my story because putting myself out there--the lovely and the unlovable--might help someone else share their story, and it is in the sharing that we know we are not alone.

And in case you've ever wondered, what you see here is everything. The pages I love, the ones I hate. It may make me cringe to do it, but what you see is what you get. 

When I first started journaling I often ended up with pages that I hated because I had this idea in my head that they had to be artful instead of real. But, let's face it, real is ugly sometimes. I had to learn the hard way that you can't keep that mindset and create authentic journals. You have to let go of the need for a pretty picture and embrace the True because the True is Good. Besides that, you'll never make good art anyway, that isn't also True. Ironically, once I gave myself permission to go ahead and make crappy art, I began to really love the things I made. Not all of it is good, of course, but that's ok. It comes from a place that is true and messy and struggling and getting better all the time. Kind of like me.

 

bare bones, part 2

 

So, here she is. The finished but blank journal. And I love her like a sister. She's a bit big and cumbersome. Won't actually fit into my journal bag and her binding has already taken a beating being lugged upstairs, back downstairs, outside, to the park, to the lake, thrown in the trunk. She's really starting to feel lived in by now, and that's the best part. If you can't live in your journal, really crawl into its pages, then what's the point?

 

The insides of my covers were damaged a bit when I cut apart the postage stamp book (I cut out the text block and cut off the spine) so I trimmed a piece of vintage fabric and glued it to the inside of each cover. I usually do this anyway because it gives the journal a more finished look. When I put together my signatures I take my time arranging them so that I have a variety of paper types and sizes in each signature. Usually I save a smaller page for the outside of each signature because I like the being able to see the next page behind it, but for this journal I kept the pages mainly the same size and opted for my prettiest pages to serve as a kind of signature wrap for each one.

 

I like to use as many found papers as I can in my journals. Since I know I will change them a lot or even completely cover over them, it doesn't matter much what is on paper; here I've pulled apart an old pamphlet on weaving that just had a good feel it. I especially like recycling old papers but am careful that they are not so old that they crumble after a while. My journals have to be sturdy because they will be dropped, thrown, shoved around, mistreated and--you know--lived in.

 

 

Sigh. Not sure how I'm going to adapt this page...seems pretty perfect just like it is. But I'm sure I'll think of something.

 

Here you can see how varying the page size adds instant interest by giving a sneak peek of what's coming next.

 

Double sided scrapbook paper works perfect here. You don't have to chose one or the other but can take advantage of both designs.

 

Sewing together strips of patterned paper with blank watercolor paper makes a more interesting surface for journaling than either one would do on their own. Plus, I can't get enough of the stitching.

 

 

These are some of the old scrapbook papers I've been hoarding for ages. I loved these quirky photo realistic pages by Mustard Mood (Are they even around anymore?) but never quite knew how to use them in my scrapbooks. They seem to fit perfectly into this journal.

 

 

The lengths that I will go to for journal fodder: spray painted newspaper.

 

 

 

My 10 year old son Soren is obsessed with The Spiderwick Chronicles and insisted I read them. I'm glad I did because besides being good stories, the artwork is amazing. I printed a copy of one of the maps in the book to add to my journal for fun. Instead of trying to integrate the map into a journal page, I used the copy as the page itself.

 

I came across an extra large book on heraldic designs at a thrift store and decided to frame a few for my son's room. The rest of the pages I kept for journal paper.

 

Cut up catalogs can make fun and colorful journal pages, too.

 

My plan: get some colorful socks & tights so I can wear my favorite sandals into fall! But I digress....

 

I always get confused when printing photos--which way does the paper go again?--and end up printing over what I just printed. So frustrating! But these ended up looking pretty cool so I saved them to add to a future journal.

I hope I've given you some ideas for your own journals and maybe belabored the point that anything has the potential to become a really cool journal page if you're open, and maybe especially the unusual and unexpected things you happen to stumble on every day. Keep a file of interesting papers that come through the mail or a portion of your bookshelf for thrift store treasures and keep going back to them. If it doesn't work in one journal, it might work in the next one. Instead of just thinking in terms of how you might incorporate daily ephemera into your journal pages, consider using it for the page itself. Even if you completely cover over it, it can add depth to your art not to mention adding another story to the journal itself.

Over the next few weeks as I show you some of my finished journal pages, hopefully you'll get even more ideas on how to incorporate these different kinds of papers, no matter what your style of journaling. So if you haven't taken the leap to make your own journal yet, why not try it this weekend? And send me pictures!

bare bones, part 1

 

Since I've been showing you how my new journal and I are getting along, I thought I'd better show you how I put her together in the first place, at least before she becomes anymore unrecognizable. If you are a journaler and haven't actually made your own book yet, I highly recommend it. You can think of this as a kind of how-to to get you in the mood. The techniques themselves really are super easy and adaptable to whatever your imagination or needs once you get the hang of it.

 

First up, you will need to decide on the covers for your book; they will determine the size of your pages. I wanted this journal to be Big and eventually decided on cutting up an old stamp collector's book left behind by the previous owner when we purchased our house last summer. The temptation for me is always to hang onto things I love just in case I come up with a better idea for using them down the road. But I've learned that I rarely do, and it is so much better to use and enjoy the things you love rather than hoard them waiting around for someday. Still, the temptation is always there and I loved these covers--but now I love my new journal more.

 

My favorite part of making a new journal is gathering up the papers. This journal was a little spontaneous and since we were leaving town in just a few days and I didn't have much time to look around for the perfect inclusions, I used only supplies I had on hand--and, to be honest, I have a lot. It turned out perfectly, though. I got to use up some papers I haven't touched in literally years and got a journal that is unlike any of my others.

 

I started by pulling out my stash of papers: purchased, handmade and found. I carefully went through all of it imagining the feelingI wanted my new journal to have and deciding what fit and what didn't. I set aside anything that might possibly work knowing I could still cull things back more later. For this journal I decided to break into some of my old scrapbooking papers. I haven't scrapbooked in 7 years or more but I kept a box of papers that I still love and by now they're so old I doubt most of the designs would even be recognizable to most scrapbookers. That was exactly what I wanted. To adapt the patterns to my own designs without the added noise of a recognizable brand. Still wanting to do something new, I decided against including any of my own hand painted papers for this journal and added more blank watercolor pages than I usually do for painting. I planned on doing lots of painting in this journal.

 

Once I had a nice big stack of potential papers, I started folding and sewing to piece together pages that fit the size of my covers. The biggest papers were simply folded in half and used as is while I sewed strips to the sides and tops of the smaller ones to make the final size I needed. For this journal I wanted as many whole pages as I could get with a few pieced together ones in the mix. Once that was done, I began nestling the finished pages together into signatures of about 8-12 sheets a piece depending on the thickness.

 

Once you have your stack of signatures, you are ready to begin binding your book. Because, like I said, I wanted this book Big, I folded up just about every scrap I had into 8 huge signatures. Since I was going to be hand sewing the binding instead of machine stitching it like I sometimes do, I wasn't so concerned with the thickness of the signatures but mainly kept them to an easy to handle size. You definitely don't want your pages slipping and sliding while you are trying to sew them together.

Now comes the tricky part. The initial prep of the pages usually takes me about a day. I like to save the binding itself for the second day because, to be honest, this is not the fun part for me. It isn't that binding a book is difficult and it doesn't even take much time, really, but getting the needle through the pages just right, keeping the signatures lined up and the stitching tight--ugh. Lets just say I make sure the kids are well occupied at this stage because there are bound to be some curse words flying and a little fit throwing on my part. But, hey, I'm not known for my patience either so maybe you'll have better luck! And, regardless, no matter how much I dread the binding (and I always do) it is sooooo worth it in the end, and I am always so proud of myself and so glad I stuck with it!

For this journal I used the same binding technique as in my watercolor journal. Both books were sewn from instructions in LK Ludwig's Creative Wildfire, a beautiful book on art journaling that you really should have in your library anyway. However, if you're in a hurry or saving money, there are tons of tutorials online. In fact, there are so many that I had planned on scoping out a few to share but I quickly became so overwhelmed that I decided to leave that part to you! For more online tutorials--including YouTube videos--than you'll know what to do with, just search for "handsewn book binding tutorial" or "chain stitch tutorial" or "coptic binding tutorial". I promise one of these will speak to you, regardless of how you learn best!

Because this post is already super long and I still have tons of pictures to show you, tomorrow I'll be wrapping up Part 2 of the post with a look inside the finished journal.

lucky duck

 

Well, back to the grindstone. Or is it the drawing board? Whatever, it's back to work for me, which isn't a bad thing since I love my job as a homeschooling mom/wife/artist. What's not to love? Oh sure, the hours are long...neverending, really. And the pay's not great. But the fringe benefits are out of this world: setting our own schedule (Not having to get everyone up and rush out the door every morning to get to school on time seals the deal for me), snuggling on the couch with a pile of good books, the kids begging me to please read one more chapter!!, free afternoons to journal or paint or nap, time to ramble on and on here with you...I am one lucky lady, it's true.

 

 

After spending over a year on Ancient Egypt we've moved onto studying Ancient Greece which I couldn't possibly love more. And there are some tremendous free resources out there that have made our days so much more fun, you know, a little variety goes a long way. Just in case you're in the mood to brush up on your ancient history, here are a few of our favorite sites:

 -BBC's Primary History on Ancient Greece. A fun, interactive supplement to our reading. I love the photos and fun facts, the kids love the Greek Hero game. We'll definitely be using this this site when we move on to Ancient Rome next year. For elementary levels.

-The British Museum on Ancient Greece. Fabulous resource using images of real historical objects with fun, interactive graphics. Combines elements of story, historical facts and challenging games to make history come alive. Great for all ages.

 

 

 

Lots of time spent in this newest journal. I feel as if I'm rushing headlong into finishing it, which I am not at all ready for, but I can't seem to keep myself away from it. Many of the pages are not at all favorites of mine. Some I don't even like. But I'll keep tweaking and sharing and learning. That's the whole point, isn't it?

collecting the moments one by one

 

Looking forward to some frivolous weekend fun: dinner with friends, falling fallish temperatures, more picnic bench journaling.

Especially looking forward to Feist'snewest album coming out on Tuesday (Oct. 4 in the states). I keep checking Itunes daily, just in case they decide to surprise me with an early release. Nothing yet, tho.

 

 

I even have a basket of perfect peaches awaiting their new incarnation in The Yummiest Peach Cobbler Ever. (Thursday's Three Cheese & Herb Tomato Tart with the last of our perfectly ripe garden tomatoes, basil and oregano set a new standard for mid-week joy. But, honestly, can anything with puff pastry ever disappoint?)

 

 

 

Perfect weekend, anyone?