Guardians for My Journals

 

Recently I ran across what I thought was a great idea in Austin Kleon's newsletter.

 More on him in a future A to Z post. 

When he starts a new journal he adopts a Guardian Spirit. It sets a tone and

 gets you out of your own head when you see it. 

 I just ran out of pages in journal # 8, since I've been numbering them at any rate, 

& decided to start gathering images of folks I admire 

to use as my Guardians. Judy Dench strikes me as a woman who 

doesn't take any crap, is a progressive, & is aging gracefully. 

Good woman to have on board as Guardian #1.

Journal #9 cover & process.

I start by removing the front & back covers which makes painting & sewing so much easier.  

All back together.

I started adding a little piece of whatever hand painted fabric was on the cover 

to the back a few journals ago. I find the fabric on both sides helps protect the covers.

I take them everywhere so they get rather beat up as time goes on.  

 Meet the family. I have a couple smaller journals I take on long trips.

 Lower left corner is one of those.

 

  Another in process from the past. 

This fabric was an experiment in printing on an old pair of pants. 

Do  you keep a journal? What do  you like to use it for? 

Inspiration? Writing? Venting? Sketching?

Small Ledger Page Journal

 

 

I always have a small journal of some sort with me. If it's one I made myself even better.

 

   I've had some old ledger pages in my stash for awhile & decided to use them. The cover is an old double sided mono print.  I decided to let the ledger page size dictate the size of the journal. I wanted to be sure to keep the rounded corner and the little numbers.

  

Here it is next to a traditional Moleskine journal.

 Added a pocket in the back as well. It's glued on the bottom and back edge. Comes in handy to stash those bits of paper notes.

 Inside the front.

I made the construction quick & easy by stitching on my sewing machine.  There is only one signature and not too many pages so it wouldn't be too bulky.  Guess that means I'll need to make more as it will fill up quickly with ideas.

Tid Bits Abstractions & Summer

Good Summer Morning Everyone!  The weather & the vibes in & around Traverse City have been pretty good lately. Just a few little artsy things to share for a week end send off.

 I'll be on the Boardman River this week end with 12 work mates for a retirement party for a gal a couple months younger than myself. I may be next. I'm finding the retirement decision a tough one. Anyone else?

But on to artistic musings.

Latest ATC swap. Here was my offering I sent out before PBI. Little abstractions.

 Just finished another art journal cover. Ready to fill up with ideas sketches & mental meanderings.

 

Found a great tutorial on getting the cover off this very book I use. Made the painting of the cover MUCH easier. I love sewing fabric to the front & back covers. So that was lots easier with the covers off as well.

 Finishing up a couple more of the fabric "pods" I started awhile ago. I love them but need to move on to some book & fabric structure ideas that have been banging around in my head. Ouch.

                     
Would love to hear how your summer is shaping up. What creative endeavors have caught your fancy? 

Windmill in Holland, MI

I have lived in Michigan (almost) my entire life and have seen it from bottom to top of the UP (upper peninsula). I never knew until a few weeks ago that "De Zwaan", a working windmill moved here from Holland, existed. So my husband & I, needing to travel to visit family in Grand Rapids, made a point to visit.Click the picture to see the details of the park where it resides.

The entire structure was brought here from Holland about 40 years ago. The tour was excellent. I even came home with a bag of flour and some dutch Cocoa Powder. The engineering is amazing.

                                                       Notice the shims on the shaft

 The "Dutch Village" is rather touristy, but very nicely done. The gardens are beautiful. The day we went was after their tulip festival was over and a cold overcast day, so there were no crowds.

I plan to add more travel insights in the future as we are taking a big trip to Alaska in August that will spark lots of creativity, observations, journaling, and great photographs.  Nature remains my most constant muse.
Stay tuned. 

Journal Page Prep

Good days for hunkering down in the studio space. Temps way below freezing for a few days. But we are hardy stock here. 

 Wanted to share some of my journal pages, hopefully to inspire others to get in there and just play!

It's always a nice jump start to getting the brain working in a creative direction. Once the hand starts moving the ideas usually flow.
My go to format is these:
 






I like the 9X12 size.  A little big for travel but I make room for it as feels the most comfortable to me.
   Then I doctor it up to my liking on the cover.

 

I dive into the scrap trunk of painted fabric or create a new piece that I sew onto the cover after
I've painted the edges with acrylic. Yes I do that on my sewing machine. Canvas seems to give the cover longevity and protection from wear.
 Over time I found it important to leave a couple pages blank at the front to create an index.It's loose but it helps me find notes, ideas, etc. I want to refer back to.

 I'm one of those people who have a hard time with a blank page, even if I am just writing to clear my head...so I embellish. Light applications of acrylic or water color allow writing on top.

 

Here I will mention one of my favorite "tools" for texture and adding lines is hardware cloth.

 

One piece I have cut to to fit my journal pages. Water down some acrylic, apply with a stencil brush and voila. A grid in which to write.
 I'll be back tomorrow with more. Time to feed the cat & get ready for my day job.