Handmade Journals for Sale!

It all started when Mr. Right bought me a Zutter Bind-It-All.  On top of a really beautiful collection of paper (which I use for collages, etc...) I've been painting a lot of paper lately and so, swiping the covers from an old, discarded book, I made myself a new journal.

This is nothing new... well, except for the Zutter.  I have made sketchbooks/art journals for years, all kinds and methods.  There are many posts about handmade books on this blog.  I have a longstanding fascination with bookmaking and with creating content for these books.

  

  

  

I started working in my new journal. I'm not formally participating in the #yearofcollage but wanted this book to be a collage journal. Making pages, posting them to IG, creating little collages to go on my pages, cutting up old watercolor paintings, making more pages.

   

Armed with the new Zutter toy, I made a second journal for a librarian friend of mine who is so, so generous and lets me know when she has damaged books that are headed to the landfill.  I really love giving a library's leftovers new life!  

  

Well, you know where this is going.  I'm having so much fun making journals that I can't stop.  And I've gotten lots of interest through Instagram -- you can visit my Instagram page and my Etsy shop to see many more photos of the individual journals for sale.  Both links are in the column to the right. 

The Valentines Files Part II

A few more photos....

The Moroccan

The Moroccan

30x40, paper on cradled canvas
SOLD

The Moroccan is large and working on him was my Christmas present to myself.  Once rhythm was restored after The Big Day mania passed and not a creature was stirring, I tore and glued and thumbed and ripped to my heart’s content.  All to say, The Moroccan has a warm, fuzzy aura settled around his shoulders – his bliss is built in.  I love him over the mantle, gazing through the rooms of our house, but he’s usually in a lower spot where we can walk up close and admire his fun details. See below.  

Hidden treasure includes a ticket stub to Les Mis, a favorite cookie fortune, a 1940s "recipe" for how to boil eggs, and a castle on his chinny-chin-chin.  Passing through the studio one day, our son home from college peered over my shoulder at The Moroccan in progress, bussed me on the cheek, and said, “thanks for the shout out, Mom.”

Crazy how art life evolves.  The Moroccan was inspired by the oversized red and beige hound’s-tooth patterned paper I found on two gift sacks at the little Port Aransas IGA grocery store several years ago.  They’ve been thumb-tacked up next to my desk all this time, just waiting.  Ca-ra-zy.

Thanks a lot for visiting. I am a less-than-faithful blogger but remain a constant creator.  C’est la vie.

Click on images for larger views.