Ezmaralda the Art Journaling Cat

My animals are all weird.

Wonder if that is a reflection on ME? (hunh)

I caught her doing it... making her mark in my journal, the "Book of Madness and Dreams"...

Sorry for the bad photos, but the lighting was horrible and I really wanted proof.

She chewed the corner off and made some pretty funky bite marks.

Here is a shot of the entire book... I love my cat.

My 2012 Book of Madness and Dreams~

Since I learned how to bind my own journals I cannot use store-bought versions, no matter how delicious they are...
I made this particular book (link to entry about it's creation) to be used for an online class I took last fall, but I loved it so much I decided to use it as this year's "Book of Madness".... my journal, a record of my brains... (here is a link to some page progression)
Shown above with my 2012 Calendar Book peeking out...

A few weeks ago I made a closure for it, and wanted to show you what I did... (as promised in my calendar book post)~

Ezmaralda always has to have her say in whatever I do in the studio. Good thing she is so snuggly and cute. Because it's not easy working with a load of a cat in the way...

I found the perfect button in my hoard of button jars... HOT pink with some bling in the center.

I poked two holes through the cover with my awl, making a "button hole", which I used to sew the button to the cover... I used some of my waxed book-binding thread, but any thread would work just fine. You have to use your imagination a bit here, this is inside the front cover.... you can see the thread knotted under the pink tape. I taped over the thread to protect it, because I am hard on my journals. Then I wrote a note to myself... "

For the closure, I used a strand of some of my crazy handspun yarn...

Attached in the same manner as the button, and taped for it's protection. 

This shot is of the inside of the back cover...

Here is a shot of the back cover, which I probably should tape over also... 

Blurry pic, but you can see where I poked the holes. I sewed the yarn strand in with the same waxed thread I used for the button to make sure it was in extra tight...

I love how it looks peeking out.

To close it I simply wrap the yarn around the button. 

This gives me plenty of room to grow as my journal grows in thickness.

There you go! An easy closure. and pink!

New Year, New Calendar Book!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I meant to do a profound post about the ending of 2011, and new beginnings for 2012.

Truth is, 2011 was not my favorite year. 

I had two dear friends pass away last year (Angela and Ruth, both my age!) and my last remaining grandmother. 

It was a year of a lot of lows and recovery periods and bleh....

In honor of Angela and Ruth, I am choosing to move FORWARD. 

They would both smack me upside the head and tell me to do just that. (I love my feisty friends).

So here you go... my New Handmade 2012 Calendar Book!

I always make my own calendar book. While I love store-bought versions, they never seem to have everything I want.. the pages are not laid out right, or the size is off, or they are too fancy...

I tried to use the fancy computer calendar on my smart phone, but it just frustrated me. Some things just work better with pen and paper, ya know?

My calendar book is really also a journal of our days, how we spent our time, recorded in short phrases, etc. They get stored with our photo albums and ephemera after the year passes. 

Here is my well-worn and loved 2011 calendar book, the cover made from a Matisse print.

The 2012 cover was cut from a painting that I did last year on some poster board... 

an abstract version of a map of our farm.  

I added a cover page of neon pink (the pink is a requirement) card stock 

and a lined page for notes and such.

All bound together using a simple binding...

...Clamped and ready to bind..

The calendar pages are blank calendar pages printed from PrintablePaper.net. 

I used some stamps my Eve carved for me for a Christmas gift 

and added silver number stickers, so I don't forget what the year is (grin). 

I then added some lined clear packing tape to strengthen the edges (I am hard on things) 

and the spine... (also to cover and protect the binding threads)

...and then laminated the entire cover using regular clear packing tape. 

(a trick I learned from Teesha Moore)

You can see the light reflected off the tape in this photo. 

I added the months and dates to each page, then went thorough 

and added important dates to each month (birthdays, holidays, etc.) 

Some months get very scribbly and messy, but that is OK. Life is scribbly and messy.

Voila! All ready to go!

It is sized to fit right inside my current journal of insanity, my manifesto of dreams and ideas...

Which is also a new manifesto for 2012. More on that later (that's another post entirely)...

Ezmaralda approves...

Happy NewYear, and friends? PLEASE, no more dying off on me. seriously.

We used to call it being FRUGAL... now it's GREEN

My grandfather called it being a scrounge.

Whatever you call it, I love saving things. 

However, there IS a difference between saving and hoarding.

There are many, many things I save to reuse and pass on to others... 

You know those nasty vinyl zipper pouches that sheets and pillow cases come in? 

ugh.

I have a pile that friends have saved for me, and I use them for a lot of things, 

mostly storing projects in progress and craft items. 

Here is our embroidery clump in one... 

Know why I call it a clump? I also have a bin of yarn clump.

But they don't last forever. 

Today this one died. 

I try to reuse as much as possible in my home, without my time becoming a liability.

This bag had a fantastic tan zipper,  so I cut it out and added it to the zipper tin. 

There was a plastic bias tape sewn around the zipper... so I ripped that off.

This zipper is exactly the same as one you would buy at the fabric store for $2.00- $3.00!

The vinyl can also be reused...  

 I sew it onto my art journal pages to make spiffy see-through pockets.

OR use your washi tape stash or duct tape to tape two pieces together to make a fun add-on journal page. (no pic of this-sry)

What do YOU frequently repurpose? I love new ideas...

Page Progression~ "Do What You Love" Travel Journal

 Worked on a few pages in my "do what you love" journal... (blogged about here)~ 

You can click on any image to see a larger version~

 The cover page was a bit short on the right side, so I wanted to add something to extend it a bit...

 What better than a yarn sample card?

 I cut it down to fit and taped it in place... perfect!

Here is what it looks like on the back of the page.

 After journaling and adding some more collage elements~

Do What You Love Travel Journal~

A few weeks ago I took a leap and signed up for Beth Nicholl's Do What You Love ecourse.

I seem to be in some sort of creative limbo lately so I thought some thinking would do me good.

I wanted to truly focus on the lessons, not just read through them, so I created myself a "Travel Journal" (as Beth calls it in class) to reflect and write in...

Book measures about 9x12 ish and is PINK and ORANGE! 

My all-time-fav color combo.

You can click on any image to see a larger version~

Front is pink, Back cover is orange... :)

I used my super-awesome neon pink gaffer's tape for the spine.

The covers are from empty book covers Jackie and I found at Scrap in Portland.

The pages are my art papers, scrapbook paper and stuff from my stash.

Bound ala Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogie class techniques.

Here are shots of me paging through the book before I have done any art or writing in it...

Front cover page...

 Back cover page...