She's Back! 52Q Art Journal with Emily Falconbridge!

Weee! That's right. Emily Falconbridge is back to the weekly art journal project this year, and I am ALL IN!

In 2007, it was the "Deck of Me" using a deck of playing cards as the base. This year Emily is using shipping tags -- which I LOVE.....but.....

.....in keeping with my USE IT UP, WEAR IT OUT, REDUCE/REUSE/RECYCLE/REPURPOSE plan...I decided to use this little batch of pages I had created last year (thinking I would make a mini art journal to tuck into my purse.)

But that didn't happen and they have just been sitting in one of my piles.

I had already coated some with a layer of GESSO. I had even tried to bind them into a little accordian book using self-stick index tabs and book binding thread, but it didn't work the way I envisioned, and yet I still couldn't part with them! (PACKRAT!)

So....I took them out last weekend and started playing around with them again. I counted out about 20 pages already prepped (Gesso'd) and I easily made up the difference (to get to 52 pages) with a quick paging-through of a few magazines on hand. (With such a HUGE amount of free SUBSTRATES (yep, still love that word, Inspired Peeps!) to chose from, you can afford to be selective and only use the ones with a pretty font (the new Creating Keepsakes ones) or wording (Somerset Studio, OPRAH) or border (MEs Home Companion) or photo (Vanity Fair, Martha Stewart Living) that you like. Or just GESSO over the whole thing. Or add patterned paper or fabric scraps. You get the idea!)

And I like it! I gave up on the crazy binding I had attempted and made a simple template for punching two holes in each card --two binder rings holds it all together.And I love, love, love the cardboard/kraft paper look of the Amy Butler scrapbooking supplies packaging - so I used that from one of her sets of fabric tags for the mini-spine (built-in jute loop for a hanger! wee!). And those typewriter key letter stickers on the cover? From my archives! Bet they are more than 10 years old. In love with all things TYPEWRITER again.

Inside front cover: (notice one coat of Gesso doesn't completely cover the text. But I am ok with that.)

QUESTION #1 was "What Do I Wish for This Year to Bring" (I am writing the question on the front, and my answer on the back.)

{Note: the MULTIPLE POSTS today are brought to you by Eagles and Steelers football games (occupying DH all day!) Here's hoping for an EAGLES/STEELERS SUPERBOWL!}