Commercial Journal Personality

Front cover with my acrylic painting on watercolor paper.

The last journal I used was huge and bulky and I decided to change things up. So, instead of hand binding a mixed paper journal using the sewn-over-tapes method, I bought a blank 8.50" x 11" Cachet Sketchbook and added one of my paintings to the cover. Instant personality! As you can see, I did not cover the spine area so the painting doesn't interfere with opening and closing of the book.

I have long used this sketchbook brand in a smaller size, mainly for writing, before I began painting and bookbinding. 

For me, the limitations are the paper and binding style. 70 lb. paper mainly likes dry media (although I have used acrylics and watercolors sparingly before). And this hard bound spine will not tolerate too many glued-in items before you need to remove pages to keep it from bulging.

The advantages are larger pages and a much more portable journal. I'm finding ways to alter the blank white pages such as cutting parts of a full page away and playing with long-neglected color pencils.

Back cover with the other part of my painting.

Long Time, No See or No Blog

It's been so long since I blogged, I have wondered how to get back into the practice. Nothing is as motivating as seeing all your "Inspirational Blog" links completely gone! So while starting to add some of those back, I decided to change the blog layout and header image.

So, what have I been doing the last several months?

 

 Making a journal for my niece.

  Fashioning a necklace for a cousin.

 Being inspired by texture and color.

 Filling my handmade journal and painting journals.

Planning art ideas in my handmade notebooks.

Recycled Earrings

This pair was made as a present, using some old James Avery armadillo charms souped up with new silver-toned seed beads and marble-like hearts. The armadillos are very intricate and cute but very tiny so now they have a few more accessories to draw attention.

Using some silver-toned wire, I did some wire wraps to link everything together. My friend loved them and quickly put them on!

Happy 2016!

Computer-altered photographs with collage.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and creative 2016!