• Art - Blog - Creativity

    Fabric, lace and trims…oh my!

    July 1, 2026 - By 

    I’m happy to be hosting over on Art Journal Journey once again. I believe this is the 5th time I have joined in this capacity. It’s very kind of our hosts to save a summer month for me, as I am currently off work for the season—one of the perks of working in K-12 education. Enough about me… I want to introduce our theme this month:

    Fabric, lace and trims…oh my!

    I have a passion for sewing as well as paper arts, and I couldn’t help but pick a theme that would join the two. I hope you have as much fun playing along as I have making my first page.

    Before I get into the details, I wanted to mention that I’m making all of my pages this month in a very custom size to fit in a ledger with a 4 ring binding.

    It’s been in my stash for far too long not to be used. 

    I really love working with loose leaf type pages, so this seemed absolutely a perfect pairing for my project.

    My pages measure 5in x 8in. Not your typical sizing but when you are working with a vintage item, you just have to roll with it.

    I started with an 8×8 sheet of scrapbook paper that I trimmed to 5×8. The paper itself had a lot of character but I didn’t let that stop me from putting down lots of layers.

    I used a script stamp and distress ink for some background interest. Then began layering a scrap of vintage wallpaper…using the back side because it had that gorgeous aged color. The horse photo has been in my stash as long as I’ve had a stash. I’m pretty sure it was one of the farm horses from my mom’s youth. The photo happened to be torn…tearing the man that was holding the horse in half. Not to worry…I covered him up with a bit of fabric. You’d never have know if I didn’t tell you.

    I was actually inspired to use the photo after all this time because of one of the fabric scraps. It was an off-cut with a horse theme…you can see the tail above the lace medallion.

    Making collages like this, layering up paper and textiles is one of my favorite things to do. Whether is on a journal page, an embellishment for a card or just a quick scrap busting project without an immediate use.

    The words for my page came from my tiny drawer of found text. I never know if I’m going to find something that speaks to me but this phrase certainly did. I love horses but have had a couple bad experiences while riding. I have learned that the trust with a horse goes both ways…they need to trust you as well.

    Typically I wouldn’t add a back to my loose leaf pages but this flyleaf with library pocket was just too perfect. I might add a tag or something into the pocket at some point but for now its just empty.

    I hope you’ll play along this month for my theme of Fabric, lace and trims…oh my! over at Art Journal Journey.

    Art Journal Journey
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Journaling through the emotions

    June 27, 2021 - By 

    Whoa…that sounds deeper than intended. I did find myself sitting down to create today and without even realizing it I uncovered something I hadn’t been thinking about…or at least admitting to thinking about.

    I only intended to do the end of the first signature but there was too much and it spilled onto the next. Honestly I really like how it looks.

    I’m thrilled with how this part turned out. It has a soft, vintage quality. I used my middle finger to paint the teal butterfly wings. Not too shabby for that occasionally naughty digit.

    I used a bit of French grammar text to partially cover the Behr paint brochure then continued with the layers until I finally was happy and had said my piece.

     

     

    Overlapping fold-outs are new for me but I really felt I wanted to add a bit of found text.

    It about sums up my emotions. I know that this is the way of things…the next step…and I am so incredibly happy for both kids. But at the same time, I am mourning my time as a parent of “kids”.  I guess empty nester syndrome was sneaking on in while I wasn’t looking.

    EDIT: Linking up with AJJ for the Butterfly theme…thanks for the heads up Erika!

    Art Journal Journey
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    I didn’t dream it

    August 5, 2020 - By 

    I’ve started working in a new journal.  So far this one is focused on texture. Not a conscious choice but I see the pattern developing.

    The sky was the limit on what I used on this page, which may seem odd since there isn’t that much color going on.

    I started out by taping down the center of the binding with masking tape. I added some ripped pieces along an imaginary horizon line to start my texture process. Next I added ripped pieces of drywall tape. The texture wasn’t feeling right to me so I grabbed some light texture paste. I’m not sure what has happened to the jar but it was weird…I used it anyway but it got my pages really wet.

    After drying them with a heat gun, I grabbed a jar of white house paint I’d been using for paint pouring a couple years ago. It has really thickened over time in the old peanut butter jar. Perfect!

    I walked away for a while as I often do. Do you complete a page in one sitting? Doesn’t happen much for me…always seem to be waiting for something to dry. When I came back some of the white paint was STILL wet…I decided to sprinkle some baking soda over the wet areas. I rubbed some of it in…other areas I continued to let dry.

    I knew that I wanted to make all the texture pop so I used sage green distress paint and sprayed water to make it flow. While it was still wet I dripped some brown and gold glimmer mists as well. I used a paper towel to mop up excess moisture in places. Used the heat gun to partially dry…and start the process all over again.

    It wasn’t quite blue enough for me so I used a watercolor crayon to make the blues pop since I had already picked out the teal textured card stock and tiny piece of vintage wallpaper.

    Since I’ll never be accused of less is more…I grabbed some pigment powders and knocked some powder off a fluffy brush onto the wet page. Now I was really loving where this was headed.  I took it outside and sprayed satin  clear coat to set the powders.

    I used the same products to color a small piece of plaster casting to add yet another layer. The tag is punched from Tim Holtz packaging. It was too pretty to toss.

    I didn’t lie when I said I used a little bit of everything on this page!

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Alison’s theme of Pockets and Tags.

    Art Journal Journey