• Art - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    A second look: memorial paper bag book

    This month for Second on the 2nd I’d like to share a handmade book that actually came up in conversation just last week. As I went searching through my blog for the post I was so surprised at how many years had passed. Over the years I’ve made at least 20 of these paper bag books. Every single one was different. The ones I had the most fun with were when I knew the recipient and could tailor it for them in particular. Now that being said, I didn’t actually know my friends uncle but she had told me so many stories and memories of him that I think I did a pretty good job of channeling that into the book. Plus I’ve known a couple authentic cowboys in my lifetime.
    Take a look….
    3/14/2011
    I got a call this morning asking if I’d want to make a custom paper bag book that would be at a memorial service. My friend Sandy explained that her uncle had been a real Montana cowboy if there ever was one. A simple man who spent his whole life being a cowboy…working cattle and horses…riding the rodeo…
    I was touched that her mom had requested one of these books for her brother’s service. I got to work immediately since time is of the essence. She told me I could share the photos of the book.
    There are lots of tags as well as some vintage postcards from Montana tucked into the pockets. Plenty of space for friends and family to write little notes, tell stories or simply sign their name.

     

  • Art - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Larger than life

    Just a quick post with my latest art journal page. I’ve got some neck/shoulder issues going on so sitting at the computer or sitting in general too long is very painful…so bear with me.

    I was inspired by the new theme of Out and About over at Art Journal Journey this morning. I hadn’t even intended on doing anything creative today. Once I saw my neat as a pin work space I knew I just had to make a mess. 🙂

    I didn’t have a plan as usual. I just knew I wanted to make a loose leaf page. It all started to fall into place for me as I added more media. The stacked paper and button flowers were not at all what I was going to use but my drawn and painted one just didn’t look like I wanted. Now I glad it didn’t. I like the whimsical touch these add. Since they seemed a bit oversized the words I found were perfect.

    I made a bunch of paper pieced embellishments at craft club on Saturday evening. It’s a fun get together where we all bring our own thing to do and get to craft with friends. Now I have a stash for later projects.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey today.

    Art Journal Journey
  • Around home - Blog

    T Tuesday: new chapters edition

    Welcome to T stands for Tuesday…grab a cup and stay a while.

    Last week I had a scheduled post as the boy and I were on a college visit. It was a dreary day but we enjoyed our time on campus very much.

    As we were eating lunch in the dining hall, J said “I could see myself going here.” That’s good sign. This of course was just the first of several visits to different colleges that we plan to see. It’s a tiny very rural college, in fact they have a horse barn so students can stable their horse if they like. I can’t even make that up! It feels as if you are driving to the middle of nowhere. This thought had me giggling when we opened the info packet. The slogan on their brochure was “Welcome to the middle of somewhere”. Very clever!!

    The other thing I mentioned in last weeks post was that I was getting a new washing machine…here it is! I’m super happy with it so far. I’ve been working at rearranging and purging a bit in my laundry room/craft room first in preparation and now after the fact.

    Here’s a work in progress shot. So much stuff and so little space! Time to make some difficult decisions.

    Two bags of books and a box of misc was easier than I thought to get rid of. I also threw away half a bag of random bits and pieces that weren’t worth donating and brought a small stack of papers and supplies to my crafty neighbor to share with her extended craft circle.

    Ah yes…looking better! But now we just learned that my in-laws want to give us their treadmill….that means my sew table will have to be taken down and all my sewing supplies will need to find a new home…somewhere. It seems that my quest of organization and pairing down has only just begun.

    I have done some crafting and a bit of art journaling. My latest journal page is in the previous post. I’ll share my crafty bits I made at craft club in another post.

    That’s it for now. I have some errands to run today including a trip to Goodwill with my donations.

    What are you doing today?