Monday, April 22, 2013

The Little Black Book or An Almost Tutorial

I just wanted to share a little project that I did Saturday night.  I wanted to do something creative, but didn't have my usual journal page mojo going.  My mojo was eluding me all weekend actually, like a big jerk...  Usually, when this happens, I can look through my buckets of random supplies and find SOMETHING that gets me all worked up.  Or I go look at my Pinterest boards and get inspired.  Or, as a last resort, I tell myself if I don't think of something I'll have to start cleaning...that's usually a no-fail  way to get my brain working...anything is better than cleaning.

But, alas, even the threat of cleaning did nothing for me this time.  So I made good on my personal threat and started cleaning.  

I was going through the stacks of junk on my desk and came across a pocket calender similar to this one (I had two, because I like to hoard things with the thought that one day I will use them for something.):

Cheapie little pocket calender...you can pick them up for a dollar just about anywhere...

Between the find of this provocative little calendar, and the large amount of small scraps of patterned paper that were roaming about everywhere, my little brain devised a plan.  

Because the pages of the calendar were very thin, I glued two pages together and let them dry...afterwards I realized that I probably would have been ok not taking this step and just having more pages, but it was too late to unglue at that point...

Anyway, after the glue dried, I just took my random bits of patterned paper and started gluing them down all willy nilly and in the end, here's what I came up with:
At this point, I feel the need to mention that A) I should have cleaned my desk, because if anybody looks in the background of these pictures, they're going to think I NEVER clean...and that's not true, I just use spray ink and glue instead of lemon pledge...don't judge... B) you will probably notice how messy and uneven the edges of the pages are...which is true, but this is just my little scrappy book that will get tossed into the bottom of my purse for creativity on the go (at least that's the plan at this point) and will get beat up, and ripped and torn and bent anyway, so I'm ok with messy/uneven edges (if you're not and you make you own, go ahead and trim those babies down...it's ok, I give you the green light...) and C) you may have also noticed that some of the pages are less...cohesive(?) than other pages...I'm planning on fixing that with a color wash or some other sort of easy background technique that will probably involve gesso to make it meld together...or maybe not...random isn't so bad in my eyes.

I also wanted to make quick mention of my cover for this little monstrosity.  I went with a solid color black card stock, and not because that was the only piece of scrap paper I had that was big enough to recover the book with...although that was a big part of it...  I like to save the outside of my journals as the very last thing I decorate.  That way when you're in the midst of doing fabulous messy art journaly things, you're not worried about screwing up whatever awesome artwork you've done on the covers...because you haven't done anything to it yet...  I say save that for the end, so if you get a big blob of accidental paint on it, you can work that into your cover art and say it was your plan all along to do it that way...  That's right!  Lie!  Lie like a dog!  Oh, and just for your amusement, here is a picture of my boring black cover:


I hope this little almost tutorial thing was interesting to read.  Really fast, before I go, I want to mention before I forget that over the weekend, I had a neat milestone thing happen for my blog, I hit 1,000 page views...it was actually like 1,012 when I saw it...and that feels pretty neat!  So thanks everybody who comes to see me and my artsy stuff...you made me do the happy dance this weekend!

12 comments:

  1. This is cool! I love how you altered the pocket calendar into something more red clovery! Weren't you hanging out at the Paper Box Play House with us Saturday night? Congratulations on all the page views! It was me it was me!

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    1. Thanks hot stuff! It is much more usable to me now...I always have good tiny calender intentions, then realize I need more space and basically have to carry around luggage to accomodate the actual calender size I need... I was hanging out with you and the other sexy CBPH ladies...this is what I was doing before that...

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  2. I really like your little journal. I, too, save those in case I might need one some day. I also have a bazillion pieces of paper that could be used in one.

    I also, don't decorate the cover of my books/journals until I'm finished for the above mentioned reasons.

    Maybe we are twins separated at birth... no you are much funnier than I am... so we can't be twins. Beside you were born about 30 years after me. :). I enjoyed your tutorial very much.

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    1. Thanks Boo! I always fuss at my husband about being a hoarder, so it's a good thing he pays so little attention to my craft room, because otherwise he might call me a little bit of a hypocrite! :) In my defense, he's MUCH worse than I am and his hoardings usually include way bigger items than my teeny-by-comparison ones...
      We could completely be twins separated at birth! We'll just tell everyone you're fifteen years younger and I'm fifteen years older and we'll meet in the middle at 45-ish...let's go with 44 because we've got our b-day coming up in May...then we'll be classy 45 year olds together!

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  3. Fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing this - you gave me a lot of ideas for the many random pieces I have lying around.:)

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    1. Thanks Patricia! I know you will make something totally awesome! Mine's a bit rough around the edges, but I thought (for once) I had a stroke of genius (usually they're just brain farts...) and it was neat enough to share it... I'm happy you liked the idea and would love to see what you make!

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  4. This is a great little book! I like it a lot. Must make me one too. I wonder what you will do with it. Please keep us informed

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    1. Thanks Gabriele! I hope you will make one and share it on your blog...I always love to see what you do; you make such beautiful things! When I start throwing stuff in this book, I'll definitely remember to share it with everybody! :)

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  5. I am soooo glad that i am not the only one who has a um....I think hoarding sounds so harsh....how about...."collecting" problem! I have a few of those type of "going to make" project pieces in the bottom drawer. As always loves to you and your artsy goodness sweets!!!

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    1. It's not just you Jennifer! Although I'm going to steal your term and call it collecting from now on...my husband is a hoarder, I am merely a collector...much nicer connotation for sure! It pays to have a few things tossed about for when creativity evades us, doesn't? Squishes back at ya!

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  6. I love the way you write. You're so funny. I am going to try and include the word monstrosity in every conversation I have tomorrow - and I'm enrolling on a portraiture course tomorrow so I daresay I'll be creating a few monstrosities there! x

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    1. Thanks very much! Monstrosity is a really good word to throw into daily rotation... I like to toss in a few big words here and there...it makes people think I'm smarter than I really am! :) I can't wait to see what you do for your portraiture course! You drawings are so beautiful! I might not always leave a comment (I am a terrible non-commenter! It's a big flaw of mine and I'm going to work on it!), but I am always checking in on you and your baby bump so I can see your wonderful work!

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