journal in the works

working on journal pages

fly

create

a pocket to put your goodies

to add your name

if I can wrench it from my hands, I'll list it in my Etsy.

My Rule Number Three for Me

One of my many artistic quirks is perfectionism.  Insert scary da, da, DAAA!  here.  Oh the dreaded perfectionism.  

 When I get caught up in the evil binds of thinking a project has to be absolutely perfect or not at all....doing it not at all usually wins.  Therefore, "Baby Steps".  I have to keep taking baby steps in whatever new skill or task I'm trying to learn.  Thus began the theory for Rule #3, "Baby Steps".

Does it always work?  No.  But I have to be kind to myself.  I have to tell my own self to "don't be a hater" when it comes to what I create.  Sometimes I have to say this several times.  And then I keep moving forward.  

I was really happy with the way that these two pages turned out.  I wanted quirky colors, an odd version of pink and blue.  And the paper doily pocket above holds a small inspiration/journal tag.

With a picture of, of course, a baby!  Just another way to remind myself that I would not expect a baby to run a marathon the minute it first starts walking, and I should not expect marathon results from myself, when I've just begun creating.  That makes baby steps, rule #3.

The Big Book of Creative Rules and Strange Oddities

Perhaps I should start this post as, "What I did over my Summer Vacation".  One of the few things that I did do creatively this summer was to start YET another new journal.  Really?  I know, but for me, they seem to be like potato chips, I can't stop at just one.  

This journal started out as a great find from Dollar Tree.  Cause ya gotta love Dollar Tree.  For a store where things are only A DOLLAR, I sure can spend allot of them there.   Anyway, it is a lovely book, and it drew me in because there were several pages of great black and white photo's involving mountain climbing.

 As I flipped through it, I was thinking how the gentleman (who was a mountain climber) that wrote it, must have known no fear.  And as I glanced through it, one theme became apparent, he persisted.  Fear and Persistance.  Two words that I always seem to wrestle with when it comes to being creative.

I decided to try it out as a journal and explore my thoughts on being creative and my fear of failure.  And thus began, "The Big Book of Creative Rules and Strange Oddities", the journaling being me giving myself advice.  Then I decided it would be a series of rules.   Rules that made sense, but were presented in a silly, nonsensical way.   

For the art part, I got started by removing several pages, and then going back and gluing some pages together.  Above, I've taken two of the pages and on the right, just gessoed over the existing page.  On the left, I've glued down scrap book paper and then gessoed over that.  Now these two pages are ready for when inspiration hits.

Above are two completed pages.  They did turn out a bit messier than intended, but that's OK.  I like the feel of them.  Again, gesso over the book pages and then layers of paint, scrap paper, stamping, sewing etc.  The rule for these pages,  "Fake it till you Make it", seemed to mirror the faces of those young men, as they took those first hesitant steps up the mountain.

Without a doubt, these two are my favorite pages in the whole book.  

For as long as I've been creating books, I've always loved flaps, pockets, windows, things that pop out and move.  And that is what these two pages do.  They are actually pockets.  And the little man on the clock face spins.  

The text reads, "How many times should you toot?  Spin to find that number!".  The strong man has a tiny horn that dangles off his arm.  He is ready to toot too.  For me, this falls under "rule # 29".  Because I really do hate saying, look at me, look at me.  

Well, when it comes to my art anyway.

Tomorrow I'll show you the pages called, "Baby Steps".

I love I love I love my calendar, girl.

For those that don't know, earlier this week, I was going to toss an old desk top calendar.  But its sturdy binding and beautiful pages called out to me.  So I decided to keep it and just make it into a journal.  


On some of the pages, i've painted and done paper over them.  But several of the pages are so gorgeous, they really don't need anything.  Except maybe a great quote.  Such as above.  


The quote reads, "I believe you should live each day as if it where your last.  Which is why I don't have any clean laundry, because come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life."  I could not find a source for the quote, but loved it so, and thought it was perfect for the pic.


As for the pics, I would love to give credit where credit is due, but the only listing I could find on the back was:
Published by UNIVERSE PUBLISHING
A Division of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
300 Park Avenue South
New York, NY  10010
www.rizzoliusa.com


Design by Lynne Yeamans/Lync
www.countryliving.com
http://www.countryliving.com/

More calendar pages

I'm having too much fun with this silly calendar.  And it had been my hope to base out all the pages FIRST, then go back and journal, like in a regular journal.  But each page just begs to be finished.  

And so, I do.  

Each page seems to just take on a life of its own.