Butterfly tape to the rescue

My good friend Beth gave me an old ledger-type book that had belonged to her father.  I wanted to make a thank you present so I turned the book into a journal for someone who had agreed to do a favor for me.  She's not an artist (so she says, but actually I believe that EVERYONE is), so I took the liberty of embellishing some of the pages for her.

I love, love, love the butterfly tape!  Do yourself a favor and order the combo pack (which comes with equally lovely flower tape).  A little zip, a little strip goes a long way!

Junque Journal Workshop Preview

As some of you may know, I'm working with Salvage Gals Beth and Lisa on the first-ever Salvage Studio Art Party on September 19. There's a ton more information and registration forms on their blog, but here is a little preview of the Junque Journal workshop I'll be leading.

Of COURSE there are birds involved...

It will be fabulous fun. I've already started putting together the journal kits, and am having a blast finding fun old books to convert into journals. Next will come coordinated papers, fabric snippets and secret embellishments. Hooray, indeed!

Again, thanks to my friend Jason for the blur-free photos!

More ROY G BIV-ness

Inside cover...

and pages celebrating the color orange...

ROY G BIV

Remember the nifty memory aid to recall the colors of a spectrum...ROY G BIV? Well, that prompted me to make a journal supposedly created by the great, late, intrepid ornithologist, Roy G. Biv basically so I would have an excuse to make a bird collage in every different color.

Even though "brown" doesn't really have a place in Dr. Biv's world (the "B" stands for blue), I felt compelled to make several pages in that color family.

The first page consists of a fabric transfer on muslim, layered over several very textured pieces of fabric and ribbon. The background was done from several shades of brown acrylic paint. The second one used a page from a book so old and deteriorating it literally crumbled as I tried to glue it down. But how perfect is "Birdies' Ball" for goodness sake?

Anything fun is...FUN!

My friend Marilee gave me this journal made from an old book. Isn't the title hysterical? Can you even IMAGINE what this book was about? With a title like that, it's a good thing the pages were discarded and new ones put in. Most of the new ones are blank, and a few are from a Guiness Book of World Records...like this:

The French Navy took over the world's largest nudist colony??? What must THAT have been like? That prompted me to spend a few moments speculating about "pageant day" in a nudist colony, which in turn reminded me of the naked cyclists who routinely participate in the Solstice Parade in Fremont (a neighborhood in Seattle).

And now, having spent several minutes on that train of thought, I sadly realized, "there's 5 minutes of my life I'll never get back." And so my life goes...

Anyway, I use this particular journal to doodle in thusly.

A dozen eggs (almost)

A reverse Baker's Dozen...

Connundrum

I love using the little cards that buttons come on:

Through the keyhole...

If you look VERY closely, "passion" and "bliss" are beckoning you...

Wild things, oranges and Chinese proverbs

Blue bird of transformation

Unstoppable agent of world peace

Bluebird of possibility

What would Carmen do?

I made the crazy red art bra on the right as part of a group project. After hanging in my studio for 2 years I donated it to raise money for breast cancer. I fondly refer to it as my "Carmen Miranda" bra.

For a more glamorous you!

Journal page using turquoise duct tape and black masking tape...you gotta love the rubber stamp of the gal in the highlighting cap. And that Mark Twain quote...pretty much says it all, doesn't it?