it's almost done!! this journal, and this week...

I have a problem: since I started art journaling, I haven't ever "completed" all the pages in any of my journals. I started working in a cheap composition book (the black and white marbled kind that are 99 cents at back-to-school time), and abandoned it partway thru in favor of a ring-bound sketch book that had heavier pages and could stand up to the layers of paint and paper without buckling. Then I took a class with Kelly Kilmer, we actually made a journal, and I abandoned the sketchbook for the newly made journal. ...and so on... and so on... you get the idea. This is one of those journals-- I don't remember when exactly I made it (Kelly would probably recognize the size and binding stitch!), but it's been at least a couple years. I hadn't journaled since we were on vacation in August, but finally, a few weeks ago, I picked this one up again. When I realized I was actually getting close to finishing it, I got sort of obsessed-- you know, like when you get to the last couple chapters of a really good book, and you just have to finish it as soon as possible?? Like that. I want to actually finish one, finally! I've worked on it really late at night, early in the morning (when I should have been getting ready for work), while we relax on the patio after work, and even taken it to work with me to work on it during my breaks or at lunch.

Some of thepages I completed earlier are painted, but the more recent ones are mostly collaged paper. Since I've been working on it in bed, on the living room floor, etc., I didn't want to "wait" to do the pages until I had time to paint them. The upper right corner of the page above is hand-marbled paper, made a few months ago at one of our mixed-media group meetings. Marbling using shaving cream as the "float" for the ink-- it was pretty fun, and the papers smell good, too! I added one of Tom's cigar bands on there, too-- they have such beautiful artwork on them, I save pretty much all of them for future crafting projects.

Then, I actually broke out my stash of scrapbooking stickers-- I mean, what am I waiting for, really?? Even if I was to actually scrapbook a photo or two, most of these stickers were purchased years ago, and I don't remember why I bought them in the first place. (cause I liked them, is probably it... nothing more specific than that-- I have a tendency to do that with scrapbook supplies.) The green check border, bee skep, and gardening gloves on the page above are all Susan Branch stickers out of my scrapbooking stash. And I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, actually!

This two-page spread had a very elaborate background technique done on it that is supposed to imitate a bandana. The design was stamped in black, and I added all the white accents to give it that "bandana" pop. It turned out nice, except it was so busy of a design that I hated it!! Not sure if the deco tape I added has helped or not, but it's getting there, I think.

This page (the image is from a vintage National Geographic, and the text is from an Oprah mag, I think) is the Eternal Question for me and my art studio. Usually my answer is a resounding "No," until I absolutely can't find anything! Like now-- I've been working the last week or so on items for a craft show I'm doing tomorrow night-- my first "in-person" show; I'm pretty excited about it, and I'll definitely post pics afterward!! (unless no one buys anything. Then, you won't hear a thing about it... lol!) Last night I stayed up till 1 am making greeting cards (made 4 sets of 4, plus 4 individual ones), then blew through again this evening to make 4 or five more at the last minute, leaving stamps uncleaned of the ink, scraps of paper on the floor, snippets of tape stuck on the desk, you know-- the usual! So, right now, it looks like the aftermath of an F5 tornado in there... is that the worst rating?? Does an F5 level everything in its path?? If so,it's not quite quite that bad (although the kitten has been known to disappear from view under the rubble, and I have no idea where she is till she decides to unearth herself). I have another craft show scheduled in a month, though, so I better clean sometime soon. Maybe when December comes. (just kidding!! kinda.)