I'm using a composition book I got during a back-to-school sale. I painted the cover with acrylic craft paint and added a strip of antique feed sack down the binding. It was a scrap left over from one of my grandmother's projects. I'd intended to use blue flowers on the cover, but changed my mind, so the blue in the fabric looks a little out-of-place, but that's okay. The vintage glove belonged to my principal's mother-in-law and I bought it at a rummage sale our school was holding to raise funds for the United Way. I wrapped the thumb around and hot glued it to the back. A bit of vintage seam binding became the bow - no clue where I got it, and the flowers are from a grab bag of left over bits and pieces I bought at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents. The backdrop behind the journal is an old piece of a quilt my grandmother made. As it became too worn to use as a quilt, she cut out the "good" spots, added binding around the edges and made several mats. I remember she used them as chair pads (instead of cushions).
This is the first page. I don't remember where I found the piece I quoted, but it seemed appropriate and fit my wacky sense of humor. I've used vintage images throughout the journal. I love looking on Wikimedia Commons and the New York Public Library sites especially. They have a great many images that are in the public domain. I've also used pictures pulled from the web of some of the women who inspire me - Princess Diana, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt - strong women who were ahead of their time in many ways - women I'd like to be like. I haven't done anything to the inside cover yet. I'll cover it in some way before I'm finished with this journal.
This is a spread in my journal. I'm not posting in any particular order, just what ever strikes my fancy. I started this journal after watching a Youtube video by Tangie Baxter. I recommend you watch her video. She has some good information about setting up the pages and getting started. I chose to glue 2 - 3 pages together for strength because I knew I was going to glue a lot of stuff on them and wanted them to hold up. The background on this particular spread was made by painting the pages with cheap acrylic craft paint in ivory, then scribbling all over the pages with water color pencils in a couple o different colors. I wet a wide brush with a little water and went over the whole page, blending the scribbles and colors into a nice even coat. I used a large rubber stamp (3" X 4") with small squares and different designs in each to stamp over the whole page with black ink. The stamp doesn't have a name on it and I bought it at a yard sale, so I can't identify it. I used some clear stamps (flourishes) to cover the page on the right - stamping over other designs to just cover the pager and give some dimension. I also added some of the flourishes to the other page. The quote is e.e.cummings and one that I particularly like. I typed it up in a word document and printed it out, tore it out and inked the edged with distress ink. My choice of adhesive varies with my mood and the materials. Sometimes I use the photo glue sticks from Hobby Lobby. Sometimes I use gel medium both under the piece and over it. Other times I use The Ultimate glue in a bottle and I have used Yes! paste, but I find it a little difficult to get smooth and even. I used pop dots under the photos and inked the edges with distress ink just to bring a little attention to them. The pieces of corrugated cardboard around the edges is packaging from a new set of pots & pans I'd just bought. They were already cut into triangles, I just hit the top of the ridges with distress ink and glued them down. You may notice the ridges go in random directions and I did that on purpose (really!) for added interest, but to be honest, at first the different directions bothered me a little, but I was trying to work outside my comfort zone. Now, looking back, I think they look pretty cool. The hand lettering was done using paint pens. I've bought a lot of different brands a lot of different places, but I'm really pleased with the Sharpie Poster paint pens. The white is pretty opaque which is difficult to find. I also use a lot of Painters opaque paint pens by Elmer's.
Just a few more spreads done about the same way. I'll post more later along with info about how I made them. Take care until next time! Ann & Katie
