This and That: Dream

I took a break from the series of challenge journals I’m finishing up for Nevermore Creations Marketplace (see the last pic below) feeling a need to do something with the pile of stuff that didn’t make its way into those books. I switched gears and decided to make this Catch-All.

There was another method to my madness. I wanted to see how long it would take to complete one journal from start to finish. I usually work on several books at a time, completing each phase on all journals before moving on to the next. 

So. No overthinking. No theme. No distraction. No stash shopping. Use what’s already been pulled out.

I figured it would go pretty quickly since I already had both cover and the image plate made, they just hadn’t met yet😉 

I made two fat signatures determined to not re-file anything and find good spots for my extra pockets. I anchored each signature with some gelli printed card stock.

I made some floating pockets and envelopes

The detailing of the “Frankenpaper...

This is a fattie. 172 pages front and back (that’s 43 sheets of paper so 21-22 sheets per signature). The time drain was trimming down the pages.

The up-side to the fattie was that I was able to use a lot of the printed ephemera I’ve been hoarding that I usually find too one dimensional. I love it but find it hard to use on its own. Anyhoo...I was so happy to get it in this book. Staying true to my challenge, my ephemera books were already out😉

These cut apart postcards were from the first paper stack I ever bought from my first trip to Tuesday Morning. So happy they finally found a home. 

A belly band made from a beer box. I bought it because I loved the graphics.

Gelli plate play.

So how long did this take me? Somewhere between 13-15 hours. All day yesterday and about 3 hours this morning.

These are the journals I’m finishing up.

101 Journals Project: Petunia

Petunia is made from a green tea box from Trader Joes so it's about 4 x 6 with a 2 inch spine. I believe the Petunia printable came from Artymaze. I mounted it on an acrylic/stamped/stenciled background I had kicking around from another project.

This is another naked journal. All of the journals in this project are just "finished" to this point, decoration may or may not happen depending on where they go from here.
My immediate goal is to burn through my paper stash by the end of the year in a "use it or lose it" purge figuring after 101 journals I will have a clearer vision of what I actually use vs. what I think I'll use then moving forward I'll be more discriminating when it comes to future acquisition.

I just used dental floss to sew these signatures in

This is such a cute little journal.

Project Share: 101 Journals

12 Journals in 10 days

The paper is getting out of control so, I've issued myself a challenge, prompted by a post in one of my junk journal Facebook groups. Someone had posed the question "Could you go a year without purchasing any craft supplies (not including adhesives)?

Interesting thought as this made me reflect on why I went down the junk journal rabbit hole to begin with...re-purposing. I was a theatrical costume designer for 20 years and prior to that a student, then teacher of costume design as well. I collected a lot of paper: images, postcards and books about fashion, costume history, art, design, clothing construction, millinery, etc. in addition, things I collected throughout 20 years of travel. 

I started off well enough until I discovered a store called Tuesday Morning. It's kind of a discount Home Goods with a nifty craft section.  In the last 18 months I've accumulated more paper than I started out with.

My riff on this challenge is to make 101 naked journals without buying anything but glue and blades for my paper cutter. I live in a studio apartment so my stash, though out of control for my space, is not as massive as those who have dedicated craft rooms and storage.

Cadillac Ranch

I unearthed a large box of photographs I'd taken on my travels and made a bunch of cover plates. Cadillac Ranch is made from a box of Trader Joe's crackers collaged with painty paper scraps. my fattest journal thus far.

Birthday Girl

Gift for my nieces 25th birthday

Birthday girl was made using a gutted hard cover book decoupaged with a decorative napkin, fabric from a sun-worn tablecloth and a band made from strips of scrap decorative paper.

I had several pieces of "Frankenpaper" sort of a paper crazy quilt of scraps, which became journal covers

I covered the inside with fabric...

There's no decoration within the journals at this point...

The papers are a mash-up of anything I could fold in half: book/magazine pages, lined paper, graph paper, greeting cards etc.

I've given myself a soft deadline of January 1 because I really want to "use it or lose it" and re-organize my space. I'm also curious to see what kind of chunk this will take out of stash.