December Daily 2021

I've gotten the base pages and cover finished for this year's December Daily. I used Eileen Hull's Sizzix travelers notebook die to die cut chipboard for the covers.

On the front cover I used up my stash of chipboard numbers, glueing them onto the chipboard and then painting white. The "title" is an old journaling card covered by a star die cut with Stickles. I tied baker's twine around, adding a bell and a vellum tag on which I put the date.

The spine and back cover are Christmas scrapbook paper as are all the pages within. I folded them to fit and inserted under the elastics of the spine. I like this method as the pages can be moved around depending on the day and what I want to decorate with. I can also add or remove some as desired.   

I love doing the December Dailies. I think this might be my sixth year of doing these.  I often don't have much to document on the pages but I add photos, poems, lists of fav Christmas movies or songs, or record special memories of Christmases past. It is fun to look through past years' books and reminisce.

 December I'm ready!

Collage Challenge - Weeks 46 & 47

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, ate lots of turkey and spent time with family and friends! I am scheduling this to post while we are out of town celebrating with two of our daughters and families. 

These are the two past weeks' challenges.

Week 46

Prompts:

1) animal with long ears (bunny)

2) something that starts with M (music, mountains)

3) something that came in mail (order for holiday stamps from PO)

4) a leaf or leaves (leaves upper left and middle right)

5) bubbles (magazine image bottom of page)

Bonus: a watch or clock (watch, upper right; clock, middle)

Week 47

Prompts:

1) something mechanical (image middle of bottom of page)

2) schematic (diagram to right of colored pencils, mostly obscured)

3) something smooth (teapot, colored pencils)

4) piece of newspaper (Chinese newspaper - can you believe that's the

only one I have!)

5) handwriting (copy of vintage letter - lower right edge of page)

Bonus: polka dots (two polka dot papers)

This page just didn't mesh as well as I like. I added several labels and tickets to flesh it out, 

but it's still not a fav.

Envelope Journal

I made this journal from four large envelopes and one smaller envelope. It was a tutorial here. (It's a bit complicated to detail here so go to the tutorial if interested in seeing the construction.)

Cover

Cover open

Closeup of envelope above with large card

Inside

Inside page with tuck spot and tag (left) and small envelope
pocket flip (right)

Closeup of small envelope pocket with small journaling card

This was a birthday gift for a friend and I hope she enjoys it. I thought she could use it for journaling about the holidays, or adding photos, or even holding special holiday recipes.

November Vintage Junk Journal Page Swap

The theme for this month's vintage junk journal page is "windows." I had seen a lovely watercolor image of an old window but knew I couldn't do it justice in watercolor so I adapted it to this.

The background is crackle paste through a brick stencil on a base of book page. When dry I spritzed it with a few brown ink sprays and swiped on some Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I cut the window from a slightly shimmery silver-gray cardstock topped with a piece of acetate with silver Sharpie lines for the window panes. I sandwiched two small pieces of lace between for the curtains.  The window frame is brown cardstock. I cut a window box from red metal which I embossed and then added scrunched up green fiber for leaves and tiny paper flowers.

On the back I stenciled ink through the same brick stencil and added a collaged pocket made from a window envelope. I adhered a window/floral image, cut from an old postcard,  behind the window.

I made a tag from another old postcard to  place inside the pocket and added a lace topper with a little wooden house and window.

I hope the recipient likes it!

 

Mini Folio

This little folio measures 4" high by 5" wide and the base is made with one 12" x 12" card stock. I used various papers from a 6" x 6" paper pad to decorate and make pockets scraps of ivory cards sock for the tiny tags. This idea came from Melinda  Pylant's video tutorial here. I changed it up slightly either because I didn't have enough paper or I made a mistake!

Front of closed folio

Top flap opened

Top piece of above flap opened

Bottom flap flips down

Center piece has two flaps that open, one to right and one to left, to reveal pockets with tags

Back of folded folio with another pocket and card

For such a small folio, this has an amazing amount of pockets, 

tags and little cards for journaling or photos and would be a cute gift or happy mail.

Collage Challenge - Weeks 44 & 45

I've been out of town much of the past two weeks but finally managed to catch up on the weekly collage challenge.

Week 44

Prompts:

1) something sweet (cake)

2) fabric (peach print fabric on top of page)

3) graph paper (upper right corner)

4) something you hold in your hand (fountain pen, key)

5) a place (Paris monuments)

Bonus: something crooked (winding road)

Week 45

Prompts:

1) piece of jewelry (turquoise & silver bracelets)

2) text using different alphabet (Chinese newspaper clipping)

3) symbol of heraldry (didn't use this one)

4) plaid (paper in upper left and lower right corners)

5) something that slides (children on water slide)

Bonus: lined paper (right side of page)

 

Art Journal Page and Weekly Challenge

I've been out of town for about ten days helping my daughter who had knee surgery. Now that I'm home, it's time for some art!

 

This week's challenge is to use vivid colors and I created a wild background page for my art journal using collaged book pages and music paper, scraps of gelli prints and lots of stencils with acrylic paint.

To tone down the background I used neutral focal images. I've had the image of the stacked stones in my stash for awhile and this seemed to be a good place for it. I added a bird image teetering on the edge of the top stone and black stickers for the title. With a little doodling, the page was finished. Easy peasy!