besottment by paper relics

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.

Free Download: Composition Book

Isn't this the greatest cover? I got it at an antique mall in Texas last fall and finally got around to scan it to share with you.

Enjoy!

 * as usual, just click the image to see the larger version and right click on it and save as...
To see more free images available for download - click the FREE DOWNLOADS button in the sidebar.

A Peek Into My Latest Moleskine Art Journal

Amongst my Project Life Exploration I sitll find time to journal in a Moleskine (which is my favourite way to journal). 

Here is a peek I recently posted on Instagram.

Some Recent Vintage Treasures

Recently Mike and I headed to Renningers for some antiquing. We were actually looking for a particular item we wanted for the house (we didn't find anything) but even while on the hunt for that, I always keep my eye out for paper!

I scored some fun finds for just dollars! All items are from the 1800's, and they are all things I love to use in my art journals.

• Some Victorian Scrap (including some fun foil stars).
• Some tintypes with frames - usually I just want the frames, so one dealer let me pull tintypes out and gave them to me for a steal. I do love the lady in the larger frame though, and will use her somewhere.
• An 1892 illustrated primer dictionary - for only $2!

Hopefully as we keep looking for the piece for the house, I will continue to find fun paper at every stop!