Starter Art Journal Pages

I haven't posted in a long while, as I've been VERY busy with several different projects - one HUGE one which I'm extremely excited about - and several other smaller ones.
It's about time for me to post something new!!

Here are a few things I've done over the past couple of weeks:

First, I created a "Starter Art Journal" for a friend on etsy. She had previously purchased one of my silk sari ribbon album covers, and wanted an "artsy" inside for it as well : ) So - I tore, layered, stitched, ripped, assembled, and even pre-painted a few pages - adding edgings here and there, hidden pockets here and there - it was a pretty fun project, and made me miss my art journaling - I'm inspired to get going on that again for myself now! : )

Here are a few of my favorite pages - I ended up making three separate "books" which were about 10 pages each. I included all sorts of different papers - ephemera, graph paper, maps, brown paper bags, and of course all the specialty papers I can't resist - mulberry, lace paper, handmade papers, textured vellum, transparencies, botanical inclusion paper, etc.

Lots of texture, ripped edges, layered pages, and a "variety pack" of cool papers!

Most of the pages were stitched by machine to create "blocks" - pre-prepared for art journaling - just add paint, stamps, writing, photos, ephemera, calligraphy, embellishments....when do you STOP, really??!

Some of the silk sari ribbon projects I've done lately - pillows, journal covers, and wall pieces - end up with nice little edges that get trimmed off. I love to recycle these onto journal pages - it looks as if I spent hours creating a special border for this page! Really, it's just a "trimming" from a previous project - it's great to NOT waste anything!!

Mmmmmm, handpainted papers - botanical papers...combined with brown craft paper, bits of black, and a sponged edge - ink through sequin waste ribbon creates the dots...woudln't this be a fun journal to begin working in? WAY better than starting with a blank page! : )

Sew around three sides of a commercially printed transparency, and you have an instant "pocket" for photos or other little goodies like love notes, ticket stubs, etc.

Aside from these little "starter journals" I also made a few more sheets of "Confetti Fabric" - Purple, Red, and Aqua this time. The red piece actually includes pieces of red holiday tinsel - the kind sold in the big packages to use as gift basket fillers. I really liked the festive effect it gave - and I'm considering some Christmas cards next year using more pieces like this! Very sparkly and shiny : ) Maybe even Valentine's Day cards!! Then I'd get to use them much sooner...

(One of my earlier posts shows a step-by-step TUTORIAL on how to make this!)

My last little project to report for today - I finished up a quilted & embellished art journal/calendar cover. This one was to be "Light Blues" - but somehow evolved into an "Ocean" theme - mainly because I bought these adorable fish beads and *needed* to use them on something!! : )  The fish looked a little lonely though - and sort of out of place - so then I gave them a habitat. What was fresh on my mind, but confetti fabric! I've found a new use for it - tear a chunk off and place it at the bottom of a journal cover. Instant glorious underwater scene! I'm really happy with how this turned out! This was a piece of confetti fabric I made a few months ago, featuring aqua, teal, and yellow. I did quite a bit of overstitiching to add more greens and blues to it - to help it blend in with the fabric colors. I've never featured a piece of my own original textile art on the front of one of my journals before - but I think this might end up being a new trend of mine now!

I probably won't be posting much over the next couple of weeks, becuase I'm working on a HUGE 60" wide by 33" tall art quilt, featuring a gorgeous garden in Colorado. I'm just THRILLED about this project - however I will need to focus almost all of my creative energy on it for awhile -

I'll post photos of that project soon!