Remains of the Day Journal...

Finally uploaded the photos of my ROTD journal...and some of the pages in progress.
Silk ribbons for the tie....
Some applique on the front cover (hidden under the flap when closed).
The inside lining...

I added a patchwork strip to hold pens..





Loving this online class from Mary Ann Moss. I keep watching the videos to learn how she puts her pages together - love this idea of using up the bits and pieces that you have (er, hoard!) and making background pages for journaling on.


I ended up with four FAT signatures -- but only two fit in the journal...(so guess who will be making ANOTHER cover!?)


I used a bunch of thin, kraft-brown pages from a sketch journal as a base for stitching other bits to. This is a security envelope sewed onto the page as a pocket...with a bit of fabric tacked on (yep. Anna Maria Horner. From her first line - "Bohemian")



Scrapbook papers in my favorite greens...the picture is from a PaPaYa catalog (oh artful loveliness...how much do I want ONE OF EACH! And GUESS WHAT?!?! They are making WRAPPING PAPER out of PAM GARRISON's ART JOURNAL PAGES! oh my. CANNOT WAIT.)


The newsprint paper bag is from a scrapbooking store (can't recall which? I just always save these types of bags because I love them...can't trash 'em!) I trimmed it down and stitched the bottom closed - left the top open so I can slip things inside. Beneath it is a page from an old atlas. The bird and butterfly were cut out of an ad from a Somerset Studios magazine, the Making Memories packaging is from their Vintage Findings line (love it) and the quote is from the packaging of some Amy Butler stickers.
The page on the left is a gorgeous painting of an almond plant from a hotel/spa room service breakfast menu...the green/white checked page is a bag from The Queen's Ink stamp shoppe that Aimee and I stopped in on the way to and from Inspired last year...(we need another ROAD TRIP, AIM!)...

I cannot believe how many HOURS I spent stitching up these PAGES! (It is ADDICTING, I warn you!) Seriously. I could do it all day (and I did last Sunday!)

Next step: sewing the signatures into the spine. Can't wait!

Nedley Update.

Well, that was a close call!! Just as we were packing up Sir Ned to send him to his next stop....we had a little mishap, which included a fall and a broken grassy knoll.

The good news is Nedley recovered nicely and though I am leaving the bandages on for his trip to Cameron (just as a precaution!), I have assured him that the scar is "hardly noticeable at all! and besides...chicks think guys with scars are sexy and mysterious!"

Godspeed, Nedley!

xo

Favorite Photo Friday {#20}

I will miss this little guy! Thanks for the fun project, Aimee! xoxo

Cameron---you're his next stop!

Vacation All I Ever Wanted, Staycation, All I Ever Needed!

uh - how about I have been singing the WRONG LYRICS all these years to this song (in my head....likely I can follow along just fine if the song is actually PLAYING!) The "All I ever needed" line is incorrect. I would so embarrass myself in front of Wayne Brady if I ever made it onto "Don't Forget The Lyrics!" Guess I should cross that off my "100 things to do before I die" list.

HOW MUCH DID I LOVE THE GO-GO's back in the day? Yeah. Not ashamed to admit it. (Do they still print Tiger Beat magazine?)

OK - SERIOUS BUSINESS NOW! Official DAY ONE of my Vacation/Staycation!! woohooo!!! Little Miss has arrived bright and early (and she did not stay awake on the ride over so I guess naptime is EARLY today! Couldn't you just watch kids sleep for hours? Gorgeous.)

Last night I started my STAYCATION BOOK! (oh yeah. ANY excuse to play with paper and MonoAdhesive.) Made an official journal/travellog/scrapbook WITH ONLY STUFF FROM MY STASH! Photos below! weeee!!! so loving it!

Started with just a gorgeous piece of Daisy D's cardstock for the cover....some corrogated cardboard I had laying around....and two binder rings. Started cutting papers and making pages. Masking tape (how do I love thee???) and sticker and rub-on letters... STAYED UP TIL 4:30 playing (it's sick, I know! Should NOT have had a SBUX at 7 pm!) Last night's page? Titled "Staycation Eve." I amuse myself! (or it could be that hysteria is settling in due to sleep deprivation.) BUT IT IS MY VACATION! I CAN STAY UP AS LONG AS I WANT!

I used only papers and bits that pleased my eye. Labeled pages with VERBS to indicate all my STAYCATION PLANS. "DO" "SEE" "PLAY" "SEW" "BE" "WRITE" "GIVE" - guess you could say I decorated myself a nice little vacation house for my LISTS for my STAYCATION week. (Are you sick of the word "STAYCATION" yet? OK I will stop. maybe.)

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUTS to my sister Niki (yesterday) and Brother-in-law Lar (today!) Can't wait to see you both and celebrate properly! (and you, too, Max! xoxoxox)Swirls!

Journaling

One of my FAVORITE gifts this Christmas was the journal Rob bought for me....something I had admired while browsing together in Barnes & Nobel....something I wouldn't have bought for myself (lately I have been making my own journals - or buying "handmade" ) - but this one reminded me of the years when I purchased the "Old-Fashioned Country Diary" (whatever happened to them? I filled every inch of those pages with my scribbles --most of which is illegible to even me!) Loved that each page has a quote and the quality of the paper is scrumptious...each season the hues change--and I plan to change INK COLOR accordingly (messed that up by starting with BLACK ink.....going to swap over to a sepia tone for the rest of January : ) It's the little details that appeal to me!

So here's to the elegance of journal writing...or keeping a diary...AND....the excitement of starting a FRESH one.

And extra exciting - I have been on the waiting list for a monogrammed journal from Rebecca Sower and she wrote to me this week to tell me it is READY!! ooohhh....I will share pics when it arrives!

Sneak Peek!! Prezzies!

Loving the GRATEFUL journal Emily Falconbridge shared a few weeks ago--decided to whip up a bunch for Christmas gifts...having FUN stamping the NUMBERS--1 through 7 - to record a week's work of gratefulness : ) --- now that I have the paper/pages/tags/ envelopes/cards/ etc., all lined up for the first journal. LOVE that I am using up "scraps" and the "organic look" of it all...no straight lines here to stress me out!

And so to bed!

Check another one off my list!

OK....making the most of my mini-vacay here...getting things checked off the MASTER TO DO LIST (as opposed to all the sub-lists that are all over the house reminding me how far behind I am in life in general!).....

I broke my latest rule of "holding" my magazines for as long as possible before cracking them open. (Hate how early they come...I am not ready for Christmas yet--so don't torment me with all the goodies I will want/need/have to have until after Halloween at least!). So. I start paging through the latest Creating Keepsakes (Dec issue)...and right from the start there are TONS of things I want to lift....and so I did (I AM on vacation. I can do what I want!) Totally scraplifted one of the layouts in the "Mail Call" section. And then I bit the bullet and actually POSTED IT ON TWO PEAS! Another thing checked off my list (to POST SOMETHING SOMEWHERE!)....hoping this gets me motivated to scrap (other than minibooks!) and post more.

And now that I have that out of my system, I can get back to my QUILT (also known as my "latest obsession" according to my DH! Oh they have no idea the burden of being a creative genius, am I right, ladies?)