Head Start Art Journal Swap

I finished crafting a handmade art journal for a swap and I am so happy with how it turned out that I just have to share! The idea of the Head Start Art Journal swap was to make a journal and start it for your partner. You start, they finish. So some of these pages look unfinished for a reason ;)

Picture warning! I have 21 pictures to share, and it's my blog so I'm gonna! You have been warned.

Firstly lets take a look at the closed journal (two of my partner's favorite colors are orange and bright pink):

I used bias tape for the wrap around tie and along the edges.

Outside the journal from every angle to show off the binding and all the wonderful ribbons, lace, and paper peeking out:

Now lets take a look inside!

Inside the front cover, a fun pocket with lace trim:

And now my favorite pages (my partner's themes included music, anime, and pastries):

 (I made a special treble clef stamp since my partner loves music)

(Vintage Jello recipes)

(A collection of foreign papers)

 ("Baby's Black Balloon" by The Goo Goo Dolls is one of her favorite songs)

(And "99 Red Balloons" by Nena is one of my favorites, so I made these pages facing each other)

 (progression of a stamp. While carving the stamp I tested it along the way, and then pasted the progression into the journal for fun. Seen with the completed stamp)

(Mounted stamp, I included this as an extra when I sent the journal to it's new home)

And there you have it! If you took the time to look at all 21 pictures then I hope you enjoyed them! I'm happy to have them here as a crafty reminder of the journal I made. Thanks for looking! :)

Getting ready for Halloween

I want to attempt making and swapping costume pieces this year, and I might actually pull it off since I'm starting in August! I want to be a dark/gothic/awesome Red Riding Hood. So think dark red and black, tattered, and kinda punk-ish.

I found a tutu tutorial (I just love saying that) online, here: http://www.heartbreakkids.com/blog/2010/10/3/how-to-make-a-tutu.html (it's for kids, but was easy to transfer to my adult size). I made mine with black and white tulle, I was hoping to add some red but did not find any at my local craft store... but that's ok, cause I have an idea you will see in a minute.

I couldn't get a decent pic of myself wearing it, but here you can get the idea of the fabulous poofyness as it hides my toes when photographed from above:

And a slightly more forward facing shot:

And modeled by my lovely chair:

I love how poofy it is!

But since this is for a Red Riding Hood costume I think it needs some red, so I found some shiny Christmas ribbon to add, but I can't decide how to add it.

I could tie strips on to look something like this:

Or I could add a simple bow:

I think I'm leaning towards the bow idea, but I might wait until I have the rest of my costume put together ;)

I received these fun wrist cuffs in a swap the other day that will be joining my costume:

Now all I need is a dress (or something), a cape, and a basket of goodies!

I'm also very tempted to buy more tulle in different colors to make myself an other tutu, do you think it would be a crime against fashion for an adult to wear a poofy tutu in her day to day life? They are just too awesome, why should toddlers have all the fun?

Art Journal #5-ish

I have at least 4 art journals I can think of off the top of my head, each one in various stages of use (mostly with only a few pages started). Then I made this one. I started by following along with this project: http://www.souljournaling.com/prompts.php I didn't follow it to the letter, and I skipped over a few days, and then I stopped following it altogether and just did what I felt like doing. The website was a great jumping off point for me and I learned a lot of fun and interesting techniques. One of these days I will go back and follow it to the end, but for now this is what I've done...

The cover:

I had to use a clip for the photo, because the journal is so stuffed with layers of paint, paper, fabric, and other randomosities that it will not stay neatly closed.

 

And here are some of my favorite pages. I am quite fond of painting/crafting over words. It is hard to see, but there are a few pages where I journal about my day/feelings/dreams/etc as a background. I have also taken pages from other books, written over them, and glued them into the journal for an added text filled background. It might seem a little counter productive to paint over something you've written, but it is very therapeutic to have the freedom to write whatever you want, knowing that no one will ever be able to read it. Now enough rambling and on to the pages:

None of the pages are ever "finished" but here are a few that are just getting started:

And some closeups of my favorite elements: