besottment by paper relics

Evolution of a Journal Spread May 2013 Volume 1

Here is a spread I started working on the other night. I thought that it might be fun to show you step by step how I create it. Please keep in mind that I am not sure where it is going, but it should be a fun project for me to share.

I am working in my usual Ruled Moleskine journal. I added some of my favourite old paper on top.  I then used a mixture of Gesso and Golden's Fresco Cream glaze (Golden brand acrylic paint in Titan Buff would work too) and lightly painted over the pages. When I say a mixture - I do not mix them prior - just squirt of bit of each on the page and blend while I cover the spread.

I knew I wanted to do a spread about my heart and my mind, and thought that these reporduction 1800's changeable portraits of ladies that I had been gifted ages ago would be fun to incorporate. 

The letters "My Mind" are from my collection of vintage and antique anagram sets.

The Heart card, that I typed "My Heart" on with my old typewriter (from the early 1900's), I found on etsy from a shop called INKKIT. It is cute, it opens up like a card. I outlined it in black pen and a rose red Copic marker .

I punched a hole using my Crop-A-Dile through the page and the heart card and tied it closed with red and white baker's twine.

Lastly I added a small piece of polka dotted pretty tape along the seam, where some of the old paper was torn.

Stay tuned for the next volume in the evoltuion of this journal spread soon!

Journaling: Advice on Where to Start

I get a lot of emails asking me where to start with journaling, or wondering which of my e-courses is the best to start with. I thought I would address these inquires in a post with some resources, links and thoughts to help one get started. I hope you find it helpful!

My first bit of advice to you is to just try! You do not have to share it with anyone, or even keep it (although I suggest putting it out of sight for sometime rather than tossing it!). Just try a spread and see where it takes you. The one thing I have learned is even when I create a spread and am not happy with it at the time - when I look back at it months or years later, the things I was unhappy with do not even show themselves, all I see is the memory and part of myself that I recorded at that moment.

Below are some things to help you try...

Guest Posts

I have written some guest posts for Carolyn Rubenstein and I think the following would be helpful (you can see the full list of articles HERE):

The Power of Quotes A great place to get started - I answer the question - "how do you know what to journal about" (and checkout my iPhone app for quotes!)

How to Cultivate Your Own Style A post about how to find your own journaling style.

Overcoming your Journaling Fears To help those that let fear keep them from starting.

Tutorials

Right now there are 3 tutorials I have blogged, all of them a fun place to get your journaling juices flowing. Check them out below:

Little Frame	Quick + Easy Journaling Bit	Mini Souvenir Journal

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

I have a category on my blog for tips and tricks, but below are the best to check out as a new journaler:

Pens and Bleeding Issues

Journaling Question & Answer

My Journaling Staples

My E-Courses

Out of all the e-courses I offer, there are two I recommend most to the novice journaler (although both can benefit seasoned journalers as well):

Nostalgic Musings (for journaling) and To the Letter (for lettering)

Nostalgic Musings offers the following which is helpful to beginners:

- A tips and resources PDF
- Two Journal Spread Step by Step PDFs
(these walkthroughs are especially good if you are sacred of facing a blank page)
- Images that you can print to use in the two step by step spreads - the same images I used in mine.
- 4 Journaling prompts and 4 mini prompts, along with my spreads of the same prompts - photographed, and videos showing how I create them.
- A post on different types of journals
- A post on my favourite markers
- And more, see the full list (and sign up) HERE, the above is just what I think is best for beginners.

To the Letter offers the following which is helpful to beginners:

This e-course can help you with your lettering, offering the following:

- video of me lettering and a walkthrough of how I letter
- my thoughts and advice on lettering
- Video tour of my practice books
- a couple fun exercises to get you practicing 
- books I recommend to help you
- Sign up HERE.

You can see all the e-course I offer by clicking HERE.

Seek Inspiration

There are a lot of wonderful art journalers out there. Start a Pinterest board with images that inspire you. HERE is my Inspiring Journals board.

Bookmark or follow your favourite art journalers blogs and visit them often.

Feel free to peek into my Journal Gallery , or if you want to see all the journal spreads I have posted on the blog over the years, take a peek HERE.

But most of all... enjoy it! No matter what, enjoy the process of creating and documenting.

POPSUGAR Feature: Seattle Souvenir Journal

Look at this fun post over on POPSUGAR about how to display travel souvenirs. There are some great ideas, and I am honored to have my Seattle Souvenir journal (made out of vintage envelopes) featured.

You can see my Seattle journal in full HERE - and if you want to see it full of memories and ephemera (as in the photo below) you can HERE.

Peek Into My Moleskine Art Journal: May 2013

I always seem to go back to a Ruled Moleskine for journaling. It seems to be what I like best (see my gallery HERE). I am still working in THIS journal - but seriously - I miss the lines!

Anyway, a while back I found a bunch of Lisa Stickley journal covers on clearance at Home Goods and I wish I grabbed more - I used my last one for this Moleskine, cutting the cover down to size (and removing the spine) and adhering it to the covers of the Moleskine and adding adhesive book binding tape (Paper Source sells it in fun colors) to the spine.

I added some pretty ladies, and the phrase "beautiful, sweet and true" to the cover (above). The sweet and true came from an 1800's primer book.

Okay - enough about the lines and the cover! Let's peek inside:

I tend to always make the inside cover informational in case I ever misplace my journal. And the first page always seems to be a sort of cover page, declaring what is inside.

I always turn to the same journaling staples - some have been added, but I still use most of what I declared my staples in this post back in 2010! Old paper, coffee filters, pretty tape, vintage labels, letter stickers and anagrams, etc and you will see a lot in this journal so far.

 I also love using old vocabulary cards with relevant words as flaps - (one of my favourite spreads uses them HERE and HERE).

 Above shows the underside of the vocabulary card flaps I made.

 this spread is unfinished - I will go back to it at some point - I need to do some journaling on the left. 

 Ahhh, my next tattoo ideas are swirling in my head so I did a journal spread about them. The photo on the bottom right is from mxme on tumblr that I found via Pinterest.

 Here is a close up, similar to the shot I posted on Instagram last week.

Above is the tip of another page - some heart's thoughts- it is still in progress, and a bit personal so I showed what I could. I used vintage/antique anagrams and a vintage label maker. The page is layered coffee filters of different colors.

Lastly, here is a spread I made starting with a cover sheet to some 1800's sheet music. This quote has been playing over and over in my head and I needed to journal it again.

I am still keeping up with my daily journal, and my 2 month project life - but this seems to be where I like to journal best.

 

A Short Exploration into Project Life: Recent Spread

Did you notice the title? Recent SPREAD - not spreadS (plural). 

Here is the dilemma I run into with Project life... I do not have much to document when I am not off visiting a friend, or having a house guest, etc. However, I did manage to put together a full spread of assorted things that span about 2 weeks.

Things to note in this spread:

• I got a card from my niece that I used on the top left - I adhered it to 4x6 paper but let the flap stay out of the sleeve so it can be easily read.
• I hand lettered over a not so pretty business card to make it look a bit better (middle right).
• I found this fun abbreviated weekday tape at Archiver's while visiting Ohio. However, after scouring the internet I could not find the exact one I bought (and I have tossed the packaging) - but I did find this one by October Morning . It is fun to tear off the day and add it to a photo or bit of ephemera.
• I have been loving my new printer that can print right from my iPhone - a post on that soon, I promise!
• I grabbed a free Pick of the Week from starbucks for a free episode of Mr. Selfridge (thanks for recommendation Lori!) and it was great, so I added it into the spread.

While I love doing Project Life when I have fun things going on, my day to day gets a bit boring. So I am still up in the air about doing it long term. Thoughts?

Lastly, here is a peek into the next spread that I have started... 

The next couple weeks should be better - I have a trip planned with my husband, and a visit from a friend in the upcoming weeks!

You can see my past Project Life spreads HERE.