My Homemade Journal

About a month ago Soulcomfort and I got together at her house, and we made our very own homemade journals. Although both were made by hand, they were very different from each other. Mine was simply a journal made from a Composition Notebook with manila file folders sewn into the cover of the notebook. Rita's was a bit more homemade than mine and had a Coptic stitch that is really neat. To see both her journal and mine, you can visit her blog entry from Tuesday, May 27, 2008. She's even got pictures of both of us and the outcome of our afternoon. It was a fun time! And for someone like myself, who can barely sew a button on a shirt, it was fun to say that I was able to make my own hand-sewn journal!

About a week after making the journal, I decided I wanted to cover it with some paper and make it pretty. Off to the local scrapbooking store I went. I picked out some funky paper and took out my Mod Podge. After covering my journal, I dubbed it my Pop Culture Mixed Media Journal. Here are a few pictures!

It may be hard to tell but the two black objects on the left hand side of the front cover are cassette tapes. I also bought and added the rub-on transfer "This Girl" to the cover.

Here's a shot of the pages. That's right - they are plain old manila file folders. Good heavy duty and thick paper. Perfect for collaging and mixed media art!

Above is a close-up shot of the paper and the front cover. Pretty funky huh? This paper really caught my eye in the store. It has keys, airplanes, light bulbs, cassettes, and even spacemen. It's a lot of fun!

Where did I get the idea to make this journal? From a great mixed media artist on YouTube by the name of samanthakira. She's a very creative lady! Here's a link to the first part of her instructional video to make your own "Easy-Peasy Journal." It was cheap (less than $10), easy, and a lot of fun!

I followed her directions for the most part. I made my own adjustments, of course. For example, I took and cut one file folder to the size I wanted them all to be, and that file folder was my template for the rest of the pages. She cuts them crazy with an Exacto knife. I wasn't that brave. I just sat with a pen and my scissors. I used my template to mark each file folder and cut them one by one.

I haven't started filling the pages yet but will very soon! I also bought a few more composition notebooks and a box of file folders to make another journal...or two...or three! :)

Happy Journal Making!

10 Masterpieces in One Night?!

That's right, I created 10 pieces of art with one of my favorite mixed mediums tonight...nail polish. This is the first time I've painted my toes for spring. (It's the little things in life that make it exciting, right?) Now I just need to work on getting my 10 little white piggies some sunshine. Sorry for the glare in the pictures. I promise to work on my tan as soon as the sun starts to really shine in ND.



I had to put on my favorite pair of very worn Earth sandals. They're the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. Earth shoes help alleviate back pain and posture problems because the heels go down in the back instead of up. Because of their unique build, they also help you burn more calories and tone your legs. I definitely recommend Earth shoes. They may be a bit spendy but are worth every penny in my opinion, especially if you have back problems.



It's sort of hard to see, but I also added little yellow flower decal stickers on my big toes. Fun! For those of you out there who love nail polish, I highly recommend OPI Nail Lacquer. It stays on longer than any brands I've tried. Especially if you use the base coat and top coat. The color I used to paint my toes tonight is called Japanese Rose Garden.


OPI Nail Polish "Japanese Rose Garden" NLF04

What have I been up to lately?

Well, I've been buying tons of stuff to start working on Altered Art -- cheap acrylic paints, brushes, Mod Podge, & etc. My favorite new color is called Parisian Pink. And it isn't normal for me to like pink. In fact, I'm not quite sure why the background of my blog is pink. I think the color is actually growing on me. I might just turn into a person who likes pink. It has been years since I've admitted this. I went through a pink-is-my-all-time-favorite color phase when I was about 8 or 9. But I got over it and started my purple-is-my-all-time-favorite color phase after I started reading the Sweet Valley Twins book and one of the twins (Jessica) belonged to the Unicorn Club -- where purple was the color only club members could wear. (Oh how I loved those books!)

Lately I've been stuck in the land of YouTube. It is so easy to get sucked into watching artists create all types or work, see tours of their studios, and hear them talk about their techniques and current projects. But I seriously need to stop doing this and put my own creative art corner to use. I just need to create! I hope to play more this weekend and have something to share.

Just for fun, I'll leave you with a link to a web page about The Sweet Valley High Series. (Of course, I also grew into these books when it was time to leave the 12 year old twins behind.) Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield were the coolest!