Perpetual Playtime

I made another journal . . .  This one started (as so many projects do) with a YouTube sitting session. I sometimes spend so much time travelling from one video to the next that in the end I have no idea where I started. That's the case here - I watched a video, linked from that one to another "suggested" video, on to another (rinse & repeat) and then saw one where someone (and I hate that I cannot find the video that provided my first inspiration) made a journal with envelopes. A couple of days later I went on a failed search to watch that video again and ended up watching several envelope journal videos, but never happened upon that specific video again. But I wasn't deterred since I had the general concept. However, on this subsequent video journey I did come across a video by Kathy Orta that showed her Hidden Hinge process . So I went with that and jumped right in. There are actually two different Kathy Orta videos that show the Hidden Hinge, but since...

. . . From Recycle (for the most part.) Yes, two fauxs - since this faux leather is paper and not cloth. I figure, if faux leather is made from cloth, that this is a paper faux of the cloth faux. Have I lost you yet? eep! Yep, I made most of it from recycled items. I bought the leather cord that closes it at Target and I bought the skeleton key on etsy, and all other components are recycled (of course the thread to sew the signatures and the glue to bind the cover to the liner is not recycled, but that probably should go without saying.) This journal took a couple of months of migration and morphation (new word! Yay me!) to find what it wanted to be. It started with a piece of junk mail. Yep, junk mail - back in October I had a tri-fold cardboard mailer delivered to my mailbox with a free sample attached inside. I started to throw it all away when inspiration jumped right off the card. I removed the sample and the sticky that held it in place as well as the sticky that hel...

I didn't expect to finish another cover so soon, but after the gesso was dried on the smaller journal in yesterday's post I started working on that journal since I already knew in my head what I wanted to put on it. I did part of it last night and finished up this morning. Other than putting a good coat of fixative on it, well, it is done. White gesso and watercolor paints. Free-handed the picture. And I wrote the text with a calligraphy marker, but the gesso was not a smooth finish so it didn't come out as well as I had hoped (gotta try a different gesso). Again, I call these journals, but I'm not sure that they are technically journals. In fact, this one is actually a Strathmore Watercolor Visual Journal that I use to sample my watercolors in so that I can see how they blend and pick up. And this book is almost filled since I have been using it for a while. It wasn't until I started altering the covers of the other journals that I decided to alter this one also. ...

. . . of sorts. I guess it's okay to call them "journals". They aren't diary journals but rather art journals.   Here are five (current count) pictured here. About a month ago I posted about the one pictured lower left. That one is my Letter Love journal for the online class, Letter Love 101 , by Joanne Sharpe. With the slow migration to electronic communication over the last 20 years or so I found that my penmanship had deteriorated a bit and I wanted to make myself more comfortable and happy with hand lettering, so I signed up for access to the lessons. It is self-paced so you don't have to start at any particular time and, more importantly, you don't have to "stay with the class" as you work through the lessons. I like that because that means I don't have to stress about not getting a lesson finished on a deadline and falling behind. Here is a close up of that journal: Link to the original post featuring this journal:  http://perpetua...

I colored four copies of Cold Kitty Tia by Kristy Dalman of Some Odd Girl in a version of color-block. I think generally doing color block the entire quadrant would be the one color, but I had a hard time making myself go true color block, so I just used my 4 color choices and moved them into the clothing of the four girls. And, since their clothes are not actually "identical" I couldn't go identical on their eyes and hair either, so each girl has different color eyes and hair.  So, without further ado, here are my color-block Cold Kitty Tias - colored with Copic markers: (the colors look splotchy in the picture, but I promise they are not splotchy in real life. hmmm, sad image.) I will try to do color-block the right way again some time in the future and maybe I will be more successful at it. Until then I am happy enough with my girls and I plan to use them on the cover of a Letter Love Journal I am in the process of putting together.