Begin Again

To complete the art group circle....I'm making an altered art journal and junk/joy journal for Tracie. I've already done this for Becky and Brenda...now it's Tracie's turn. To save on postage, Becky brought a big pile of ephemera from Tracie. It's a mixture of Tracie's art....her grandson's art...some vintage papers....and bits of this and that. I can work with this!

All three of them bought the same art journal that I used for mine. These journals have nice medium weight paper that is easy to tear, but strong enough to stitch and paint on. 

And the spine bends well to get the pages under the sewing machine. 

It's time to begin again....the hardest part is tearing that first page.

I use a metal ruler to tear the pages....it works really well.

I don't do a lot of planning ahead...just a couple page pairings at a time. I do try and create some sort of flow from one set of pages to the next. It's kind of like curating a collage wall. 

These additions are just meant to be starting off points for Tracie to fill the pages with her own art and ephemera....to inspire more art play. 

And just like that...I've begun.

And I love how the orange slice mirrors the center of the flowers.

Little moments like this make me smile.

Once I get rolling...it's hard to stop. If I was younger...I could do this for a living.

Tracie and her husband Loon are coming to Portland mid September...and my goal is to have her two journals done to hand to Tracie in person. I won't post much...because I want them to be mostly a surprise...but I will share a few favorite pages here and there. 

I'm quite fond of this simple rainbow page....which likely was done by Anders...her grandson. He's quite an artist.

I cut out three sides...and I love the way it lands perfectly on the page. Whatever Tracie chooses to do on the next page will peek through around the edges. 

This is the perfect project to ease me back into a daily art practice. It's time to begin again!