Seedling No. 1

Today I finished 'Seedling' journal No. 1. and have listed it in my Esty shop.

Here are a few more peeks at the pages in this little journal.

Sneak Peeks

Sneak peek. Fabric page with hiding place in Seedling journal No. 6

It's Monday. We are a week away from the girls going back to school. This afternoon we are heading out for Open House; getting schedules, adding funds to the lunch accounts, getting supply lists and lockers and meeting all the teachers. And it's super hot and humid, feels more like mid July rather than a day away from September. Thank goodness the school is air conditioned.

I am trying to finish up a few pages in 'seedling' journal No. 6 before we leave. This is the journal I will be giving away on Labor Day. There is still time for a chance to win here.

And here is another fabric page in the journal; a little pocket awaiting a treasure.

More Journals

More journals. These are 6" tall by 4.5" wide.

Big 'HuG' and a tiny 'HuG' journal.

A peek inside the tiny 'HuG'

Sometimes the only thing to do

is to start looking at everything

again until you forget what you're

supposed to see and actually

see what's there

Brian Andreas

http://www.storypeople.com/

There is nothing quite like finding words that seem to fill out a moment so completely. When a thought mirrors what is on the inside, out. I simply adore Brian Andreas. Sometimes I could swear his words are meant for me to find.

This morning I got up and barely had my morning cup of joe before sitting down at my sewing machine. It is now a wee bit after 2pm and I just got up and had no idea so many hours had already passed by. I am trying to get as many journals created and ready for pages. I have about one week that I can call my own and am filling it with as many creative hours that I can cram into it.

There is still plenty of time to add your name to the giveaway for the 'seedling' journal in my previous post. I will be posting a few sneak peeks at some of the pages in that journal.

A Give Away and Another Batch of Journals

The last few days I have been busy creating another batch of journals and working on a 'seedling' journal which I will be giving away here on my blog

Here are a few pics of them and details for the give away are below in this post. Read On.

6" tall by 5" Remains of the Day journal with a 31" wrap around enclosure.

6" tall by 5" wide Remains of the Day Journal with 33" wrap around enclosure.

A tiny 'HuG' style journal. 2.5" by 2.5" by 3" wide with 3 spines and 60 pages, wrap around enclosure is 30" long.

 This little 'seedling' No. 6 journal is looking for a new home.

3.5" tall by 3" wide with it's own seed packet and a few surprise goodies.

I will be giving this little journal away to some lucky reader. Here is what you need to do, post a comment to this post and share a favorite moment of the summer or what you are looking forward to this fall. On Labor Day evening I will pick a winner using the random number generator http://www.random.org/ and annouce the winner here. Please make sure you leave me a way to reach you if you should happen to be the lucky winner.

Detail view.

My No.1 Seedlings

Happy Sunday everyone. August is more than half way gone. I am so looking forward to September and fall weather. And the colors, the rich and vibrant tones that signal change. That it is time to move into a more settled routine, when night fall takes away the day a wee bit sooner. I find I am being drawn to warmer colors as I create, thus the earthy tones of my batch of 'seedling' journals.

As much as I look forward to fall I also feel just a little bit sad that my evenings will no longer be my own. September means that I will yet again become entrenched with my daughter's busy schedules. I feel very fortunate that they are so committed to doing what they love. I am blessed with their gifts and their talents and take so much pleasure seeing their own excitment grow as each day brings them closer to going back to school and dance. Where did the time go? I now have 2 in high school. My number one seedlings are growing up. We must have planted them in good soil.

Brittney; a Junior with my Grand neice Deliah.

Megan; a Freshman with my Grand neice Daisy.

Here a few more pics of the pages in 'seedling' journal No.1.

Cover

Fabric pocket  page with tattered lace.

Fabric page with hiding place.

Another tattered lace pocket.

Another hiding place.

Back of cover.

Growing Like Weeds

She turned to me & whispered,

don't you just love it when you

get so excited you forget to breathe?

& the thought of her smiling

eyes still makes me laugh.

Brian Andreas

http://www.storypeople.com/

Feeling excited and happy. My 'seedling' journals are growing like weeds. Yesterday, was spent outside dying, staining and distressing yet more fabric to play with. It was hot, muggy and I didn't even notice it. I was making a beautiful mess and having a blast. I used a combination of 'Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist and liquid watercolors to stain these. You can't see it in the photos, but parts of the fabric lightly sparkle.

Here is a sampling. I love this particular fabric and use it ALOT.

And here is another 'seedling' almost ready for market

and a 'seedling' packet from the stained fabric.

'Seedlings'

These are little packets of light & you need to plant them early in the year & remember to mark where they were because lots of times they look like weeds in the beginning & it's not until later that you see how beautiful they really are.

Brian Andreas 

http://www.storypeople.com/

I have been busy making the sweetest tiny journals I am calling 'seedlings',

small journals for big ideas. Each little journal will come in it's own sewn, fabric seed packet and the journal will have pages lightly collaged and washed in colors and ready for journaling. Each little packet will also contain an assortment of collage 'cuttings', vintage text, ledger papers to name a few things as well as new items which can be used in the journal or saved and used for something else. The perfect little journal, ready to 'grow and blossom' into something special to give to someone or keep and plant in your own home. I will be adding these to my Etsy shop very soon.

The fabrics used for the journal covers are a mix of vintage laces and trims along with fabrics I recently hand distressed and stained last week. Each journal is roughly about 4" tall and 3" wide. The pages will be a mix of vintage ledger papers and 90 pound watercolor papers, lightly washed in neutral tones. I will be sharing my progress here as they begin to sprout and come to life.

Good Things

You don't have to be a bundle of contradictions

to be a woman, she said. But we all agreed it helps

http://www.storypeople.com/

So I am in the middle of menopause, have been now for a couple of years and my plumbing still can't make up it's mind which way it wants to go. It is sooooooo frustrating some days. This Brian Andreas sentiment pretty much says it all today.

Here are a few more page peeks that I am working on for my Remains of the Day journal 'the good and the true'. At least my creative wiring is still working properly. A truly 'good thing'. This journal is now ready for adoption in my Etsy shop.

Fabric pocket page.

Lace pocket page with tags.

the Good and the True

They came to sit & dangle their feet

off the edge of the world

& after awhile they forgot everything

but the good & true things they would do someday.

Brian Andreas

http://www.storypeople.com/

It is a GEORGEOUS day here in MN. It's about 75 or so. There is a cool, breeze coming straight out of Canada. Every window in the house is WIDE open and I am lovin' it. If only summer could be like this for 3 months. I would be sooooooo very happy. The perfect sort of day for dangling one's feet off the edge of the world.

I am working on my newest Remains of the Day journal which I will be listing in my Etsy shop soon; the good and the true. It is 6" tall and 4.5" wide with a 30" wrap around. The colors are bright and happy, exactly how I feel on this perfect day. Life is good. Here are a few peeks at some of the pages in this journal.

Fabric pocket page.

Pocket from tatterered pair of jeans stuffed with tags.

Painted and altered tag.

Page layered with my collage background papers.

Ordinary Life

It is summer. No doubt about that. I have been working on several projects. This is a page from a journal I will be listing in my Etsy shop soon.

I am so looking forward to the fall. Cooler, drier air, crisp nights, windows open wide and listening to the frogs and crickets chirping away. I love the fall but even more I am looking forward to winter. I miss this.

And this

and even more, this

It can't happen soon enough.