• Art - Blog - Creativity

    We flew

    November 25, 2018 - By 

    Lately most of my time has been spent creating journals, writing in them or thinking about them…but not art journals.

    I tend to do this…I get completely obsessed with one thing and virtually abandon the rest for a time. Art journals and mixed media always find there way back to me. They are my true calling.

    Today though I knew I wanted to art journal. I started out with some dress pattern paper and gelatos for that lovely aged yellow color. I added bits of torn fabric and papers in opposite corners of my spread. I then added some red and gold with a variety of sprays and golden paints.

    After that I wasn’t really sure other than I thought I needed another color…something contrasting. I came across a tattered book mark in my stash. The colors of the flowers matched perfectly and the blue gave that contrasting color I was looking for.

    After I decided on the wooden bird for the opposite page I dug out my sealing wax just for fun. I haven’t use it in ages. My cousin and I got little sets back in the early 1980’s when we were girls and wrote letters to each other. I still have my set and a few more seals that I’ve picked up over the years just because they are pretty and kind of a unique thing to come across at a rummage sale.

    I happened to find a journal tag that was the right color blue to act as a perch for my bird. The words we flew jumped out at me from my box of found text. I thought a bit of loopy thread gave some nice texture and was a bit reminiscent of a nest.

    The tag looked a little boring so I used a bit of distress ink on a script stamp for a little more vintage feel. I didn’t have a brad the right color so I dipped a white one in paint then sprinkled with baking soda. once it dried It had a nice muted appearance in just the right color.

    I’m super happy that I gave in to my impulse and got creative today.

    Linking up with Art Journal Journey for Vintage or Modern

    Art Journal Journey
  • Around home - Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Vintage linen remake

    November 24, 2018 - By 

    I have so many vintage linens squirreled away in boxes. It’s really a shame. Lately I’ve been thinking about purging some things especially things that no longer bring me joy. My trouble is that I have a hard time parting with some of these vintage pieces. I’m beginning my journey of letting go by cutting up the stained and tattered ones first because in reality…who’s going to want them other than me for sentimental value.

    These pieces were just waiting for an opportunity to come together.

    I’ve added the completed piece to enhance my laundry room decor.

    I think perhaps this is a good first step in letting go by being able to hold onto a little piece…if that even makes sense.

  • Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: tea and coffee edition

    November 12, 2018 - By 

    Hello and welcome to another edition of T Stands for Tuesday.

    Over the past week or so I’ve been pulling together papers from my stash to begin the process of creating my December Daily journal.

    I also dug out a set of book covers I’d been saving for just the right project. I wish that I hadn’t discarded the spine…although it may have been in bad shape. Oh well…I’ll find a way to make it work for me.

    Originally I was thinking that I’d use crisp bright colors for my journal, however I discovered that the vast majority of my papers were one sided prints. This is fine in some ways but left A LOT of blank white pages. Yes, I know…journal…but I like having color and pattern to break things up a bit. Besides…plain white pages are intimidating.

    I decided while cleaning the coffee pot (because I can’t seem to do just one thing at a time lately) that it would be a good time to do a bit of tea dyeing of some paper. I really wanted to tone down that white and give a more cohesive look to the journal.

    After soaking the papers in the tea solution I baked them in the oven. Yep…Mr. G came in from the garage…asked me what I was doing. “I’m baking paper.” He shook his head and told me that he was going to pretend he didn’t hear me. I chuckled to myself thinking about the fact that I’d be ironing them too.

    I wasn’t happy with the level of aging from just the tea staining. I added some instant coffee to the mix which definitely did the trick. My papers where a lovely shade of brown…perfectly aged.

    Would you like to know the most important thing I learned through this process? Caffeine absorbs through the skin. I spent about an hour with my hands in and out of the tea/coffee water. I didn’t think a thing about it until I realized about 100 pages into the book I was reading in bed that I wasn’t a bit tired.

    Not….one….tiny….bit.

    Typically I can get through about 10 pages before my eyes start to slam shut and I read the same paragraph over and over. Nope not Saturday night. I read the entire book. Seriously…the whole dang book. Finally I got up and took some Benadryl to make me sleepy…even though I knew I’d have the dreaded brain fog the next morning.

    So let this be a public service announcement to all of you…wear water proof gloves of some sort!!

    Sticking with my caffeine induced post…Mr. G bought me some coffee beer. 

    It was pretty good. Just one though. Definitely not one I could drink more than one in an evening…or even in a week. That 4 pack will last a while.

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today??